In medicine, infectious disease or communicable disease is disease caused by a biological agent such as by a virus, bacterium or parasite. This is contrasted to physical causes, such as burns or chemical ones such as through intoxication.
Infectious diseases are the invasion of a host organism by a foreign replicator, generally microorganisms, often called microbes, that are invisible to the naked eye. Microbes that cause illness are also known as pathogens. The most common pathogens are various bacteria and viruses, though a number of other microorganisms, including some kinds of fungi and protozoa, also cause disease. Prions are borderline, and memes would not usually be considered in this scope. An infectious disease is termed contagious if it is easily transmitted from one person to another.
More on [ Infectious disease ]
Infection Control :: Products and Services
Microbiology
Antibiotics :: Drugs and Medications
Vaccines and Antisera :: Drugs and Medications
Disease Control and Prevention
Infectious Diseases :: Epidemiology
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention :: Department of Health and Human Services
Microbiology :: Biology

A Focus on Infectious Diseases - Information on influenza, infections in children, HIV/AIDS, shingles, sexually transmitted diseases, oral infections, and pelvic infections.
Meta Description: [ /Find Infectious Disease health articles and videos and other Infectious Disease health topics ]
BioMed Central - Offers the current infectious disease reports.
Clinical Infectious Diseases, Electronic Edition - Published by the University of Chicago for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Features news, articles, and practice guidelines.
Communicable Disease and Immunizations - Communicable disease information for HIV/AIDS, pertussis, influenza, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, chickenpox, and others.
Meta Description: [ Communicable Diseases and Immunizations webpage including fact sheets on diseases. ]
Communicable Disease and Public Health - A journal published by the Health Protection Agency in association with the Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health. Find back and current issues and info about the CDPH.
Diagnosis and Management of Infectious Diseases - Complete electonic version the book in .pdf format.
Meta Description: [ A complete guide to the diagnosis and management of all infectious diseases
and an account of medically relevant viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites ]
Disease Outbreak News - Information about disease outbreaks anywhere in the world, searchable by time period, with archives by disease; from the Communicable Disease Surveillance and Response (CSR), World Health Organization.
eMedicine Health - Consumer health resource center providing information on the causes, symptoms, and treatment of swollen lymph glands.
Meta Description: [ Lymph glands (also called nodes) are a part of your lymphatic system, which is one of your body's barriers to infection and plays a role in the immune responses. When ... ]
eMedicine Health - Finger Infection - Consumer health resource center providing information on the causes, symptoms, and treatment of injury or infection to a finger.
Meta Description: [ Injury or infection to a finger or fingers is a common problem. Infection can range from mild to potentially serious. Often these infections start out small and are relatively easy ... ]
eMedicine Health - Sepsis - Consumer health resource center providing information on the causes, symptoms, and treatment of blood infection.
Meta Description: [ Learn about sepsis (blood infection) in which the number of people dying from it has doubled in the last 20 years. Causes of sepsis include pneumonia, bladder, kidney, or urinary tract infection, cellulitis, appendicitis, and meningitis. ]
Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal - Extensive e-journal from the CDC.
Health Protection Agency: Infections - CDSC is a division of the Health Protection Agency and is the UK information and response center for surveillance and control of infectious diseases.
Meta Description: [ Health Protection Agency Centre for Infections ]
Infections - MCW HealthLink - Information about infectious and communicable diseases from the physicians of the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Meta Description: [ MCW HealthLink articles on Infections/Infectious Diseases ]
Infectious Disease Control Unit - Factsheets and news releases related to diseases and various health topics.
Meta Description: [ Infectious Disease Control Unit Home Page ]
Infectious Disease News - Online version of the magazine. Includes breaking news, archives, online seminars, and specialty forums.
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Infectious Diseases - Articles in .pdf format - requiring Adobe Acrobat reader. Plus a link directory.
Infectious Diseases in Children - Online version of the journal. Includes case studies, articles, and monographs.
Infectious Diseases Society of America - Includes information about the IDSA, a career center, newsroom, practice guidelines, and journals and publications.
International Society for Infectious Diseases - ISID consists of individuals interested in infectious diseases, including specialists, microbiologists, immunologists, epidemiologists, public health workers, parasitologists, virologists, mycologists, and molecular biologists. Find publications, resources, memberships and programs.
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Johns Hopkins Infectious Diseases - Information on infectious diseases including hepatitis, STDs, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention, research, education, and epidemiology.
Meta Description: [ Physicians/Clinicians: search by bug/drug/diagnosis; find current, concise information on antibiotics for treating infectious diseases; ask questions of Hopkins' experts at Johns Hopkins Infectious Diseases Antibiotics Guide. ]
Karolinska Institute: Library and Information Center - Compilation of medical microbiology and infectious diseases sites.
Kidshealth: Infections - Directory of factsheets covering common infections affecting children.
Meta Description: [ Every child gets sick from time to time. When your child isn't feeling well, you'll want to know how to recognize the symptoms, how to help, and when to call the doctor. Find out what you need to know about all the common and not-so-common infections. ]
Medical Microbiology - Online textbook with scientific and medical information on many disease causing organisms.
Medical Microbiology - Information on the microorganisms that cause diseases in humans. Lecture notes, laboratory notebook, computerized clinical cases, and most common causes of infectious diseases file.
Meta Description: [ Neal Chamberlain, PhD Medical Microbiology Educational Site, Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine ]
Mediscover - Infectious Diseases - Content includes topical news from the world or research, recent releases from the world of clinical practice - antivirals, antibiotics and vaccines, regular feature articles, specialist resources.
Medlineplus - Infectious Diseases - Articles about infectious disease and infectious disease links.
Meta Description: [ Infectious Diseases ]
Medscape Infectious Diseases - Directory of news, articles, research reports, and sites. Free registration required to view most of the material.
Meta Description: [ Find Infectious Diseases Continuing Medical Education (CME), Infectious Diseases medical journal articles, MEDLINE, Infectious Diseases medical news, Infectious Diseases conference coverage and comprehensive drug information on Medscape, a free resource for physicians. ]
Medscape Infectious Diseases Headlines - Latest medical news and information from Medscape.com.
Microbes: in Sickness and in Health - Publication of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Microbial Threats to Health: Emergence, Detection, and Response (2003) - Covers emerging diseases, resurgence of known pathogens, and the human factors that converge to provide an environment where diseases can spread. Complete 350-page report from the Board on Global Health of the National Academy of Science, in Open Book and PDF formats.
National Center for Infectious Diseases - A large, searchable database of articles about diseases; resources for scientists, physicians, travelers; publications; training programs.
Meta Description: [ Homepage for the CDC's National Center for Infectious Diseases. Source for infectious disease information, programs, organizational information. ]
National Foundation for Infectious Diseases - NFID supports research into the causes, cures, and prevention of infectious diseases and sponsors public and professional education programs. Virtual library, factsheets, vaccine research conference information, National Coalition for Adult Immunization.
Meta Description: [ The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases is dedicated to educating the public and health care professionals about causes, treatment and prevention of infectious diseases. ]
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) - Provides major support for scientists conducting research aimed at developing better ways to diagnose, treat and prevent the many infectious, immunologic and allergic diseases.
Meta Description: [ National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Home Page ]
New York State Department of Health: Communicable Diseases - Directory of factsheets on infectious diseases, plus press releases.
Meta Description: [ Communicable Disease Fact Sheets ]
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OHSU Health: Infectious Diseases - Overview, symptom and treatment information about infectious diseases.
Meta Description: [ Detailed information on the most common infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS, chickenpox, chronic fatigue syndrome, common cold, diphtheria, E. coli, giardiasis, infectious mononucleosis, influenza (flu), lyme disease, malaria, measles, meningitis, mum ]
Pediatric Investigator Collaborative Network on Infections in Canada - PICNIC official web site to learn about new research, technologies, and to connect to each other. Offers information about the organization, publications, links and a member only area.
Meta Description: [ The official Paediatric Investigators Collaborative Network on Infections in Canada (PICNIC) website. ]
Research and Training in Tropical Diseases - Co-sponsored by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO). It helps co-ordinate global efforts to combat infectious diseases of the poor and disadvantaged.
Meta Description: [ Website of the UNICEF-UNDP-World Bank-WHO
Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases ]
Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health - Information on communicable diseases and environmental health hazards, travel and veterinary health risks including statistical data.
Meta Description: [ This is a holding page for users accessing the HPS website from SCIEH Online. ]
The Bad Bug Book - This handbook provides basic facts regarding foodborne pathogenic microorganisms and natural toxins. Each chapter focuses on either one bacteria, virus, parasite, or natural toxin, providing basic facts.
Meta Description: [ This handbook provides basic facts regarding foodborne pathogenic microorganisms and natural toxins. ]
The American Medical Association's Resources on Infectious Diseases - Current resources for physicians and the public on important issues in infectious diseases. Features news, forums, articles, and archives.
Meta Description: [ News and information on infectious diseases and vaccinations. ]
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The Core Center - Comprehensive range of outpatient care to individuals and families affected by HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases.
Meta Description: [ A freestanding outpatient clinic devoted to the prevention, research and treatment of infectious diseases ]
The Global Infectious Disease Threat and Its Implications for the United States - Extensive report from the US Central Intelligence Agency.
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The Internet Pathology Laboratory for Medical Education: Infection Index - Images of organisms and their effects on organs.
The Lancet: Infectious Diseases - Online version of the journal. Includes full text articles and abstracts. Requires registration to see most of the content. Basic registration is free. Some articles are pay per view.
The Merck Manual - Infectious Diseases - Specific and general clinical information on infectious diseases and their treatment.
The New England Journal of Medicine: Infectious Disease - The Infectious Diseases collection covers topics such as sepsis, meningitis, and pneumonia.
Meta Description: [ The Infectious Diseases collection covers topics such as sepsis, meningitis, and pneumonia and includes research articles, case reports, reviews, and editorial commentary. ]
U.S. Army Medical Research Unit-Kenya - Research and surveillance of tropical diseases, including virology, parasitology, and immunology, to develop and test improved means for predicting, detecting, preventing, and treating infectious disease threats in East Africa.
USAMRIID - The United States Army Medical Research Institute for infectious diseases.
Vads Corner - Emerging viruses, Outbreaks, Haze, Nipah virus, enterovirus 71, Influenza, H5N1 Influenza A, Chikungunya virus, West Nile virus, Dioxin, Arsenic, Medline, Medical Journals.
WHO/OMS - Infectious diseases - Articles from the World Health Organization.
BMC Infectious Diseases - Latest articles - The latest articles from BMC Infectious Diseases (ISSN 1471-2334) published
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Office of Communication Media Relations
Clin Infect Dis Latest Articles - Clin Infect Dis Latest Articles
Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases - Current Table Of Contents - Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases, August 2007, Volume
20, Issue 4
J Infect Dis Latest Issue - J Infect Dis Latest Issue
NEJM Updates for Infectious Diseases - The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) updates for Infectious Diseasea