Communicable Diseases and our Environments

This chapter presents descriptions of infectious diseases, their mode(s) of transmission, and how design can potentially interrupt the transmission of select communicable diseases. The infectious diseases presented here are those that contribute the greatest burden of disease and/or have identified modifiable environmental design interventions. Vaccine preventable infectious diseases are a category of communicable disease where the transmission of disease can be stopped with the administration of vaccines. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndromeis a one-two punch communicable disease that begins with the transmission of the HIV from human to human via direct contact with blood and body fluids containing HIV. Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and is spread by air through coughing, sneezing, or talking. Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is a virus of the Filoviridae family, genus Ebolavirus. This rare communicable disease has become widely known due to the recent EVD epidemic in West Africa. Malaria is a serious, sometimes fatal, communicable disease transmitted by mosquitoes.