INFECTIOUS DISEASES, CAUSATIVE ORGANISMS, MODES OF TRANSMISSION, AND USUAL INCUBATION PERIODS

Disease
Acquired immunodeciency syndrome (AIDS) Ameobiasis Anthrax Chancroid Chickenpox Cholera

Organism
Human immunodeciency virus (HIV) Entamoeba histolytica Bacillus anthracis Haemophilus ducreyi Varicella zoster Vibrio cholerae

Mode of Transmission
Sexual; percutaneous; perinatal

Incubation Period
Median of 10 years

Contaminated water Airborne or contact Sexual Airborne or contact Ingestion of water contaminated with human waste Probably by inhalation Ingestion of contaminated water; direct contact with carrier Transfusion and transplantation; sexual; perinatal

24 weeks 260 days 35 days About 14 days A few hours to 5 days

Cryptococcosis Cryptosporidiosis Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection

Cryptococcus neoformans Cryptosporidium species Cytomegalovirus Campylobacter species

Unknown Probably 112 days Highly variable: 38 weeks after transfusion, 312 weeks after delivery of newborn 35 days Variable; in part related to the inuence of antibiotics 1236 hours 13 days

Diarrheal disease (common causes)

Clostridium difcile

Ingestion of contaminated food Fecaloral

Salmonella species

Ingestion of contaminated food or drink Ingestion of contaminated food or drink;direct contact with carrier

13 days

Shigella species

Yersinia species

Ingestion of contaminated food or drink;direct contact with carrier

Ebola Gonorrhea

Ebola virus Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Contact with blood or body uids Sexual; perinatal

221 days 27 days

Hand, foot, and mouth disease Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) Foodborne hepatitis

Coxsackievirus

Sin Nombre virus

Direct contact with nose and throat secretions and with feces of infected people Contact (direct or indirect) with rodents Ingestion of contaminated food or drink;direct contact with carrier

35 days

Unclear

Hepatitis A virus

1550 days

Hepatitis E virus

Ingestion of contaminated food or drink; direct contact with carrier

Unclear

Bloodborne hepatitis Hepatitis B virus Sexual; perinatal; percutaneous 45160 days

Hepatitis C virus

Sexual; perinatal; percutaneous Sexual; perinatal; percutaneous

69 months

Hepatitis D Sexual; perinatal; percutaneous Hepatitis G Herpangina Coxsackievirus Percutaneous Direct contact with nose and throat secretions and feces of infected people Contact with mucous membrane secretions Inhalation of airborne spores Contact with soil contaminated with human feces Contact with S. aureus carrier Droplet spread Contact with animal droppings; direct contact with blood or body uids Airborne from water source Foodborne; perinatal

Unclear

Unclear 35 days

Herpes simplex

Human herpesvirus 1 and 2

212 days

Histoplasmosis Hookworm disease

Histoplasma capsulatum Necator americanus; Ancylostoma duodenale Staphylococcus aureus Inuenza virus A, B, or C Lassa virus

518 days A few weeks to many months 410 days 2472 hours 721 days

Impetigo Inuenza Lassa fever

Legionnaires disease Listeriosis

Legionella pneumophila Listeria monocytogenes

210 days Unclear; probably 3 70 days 1423 days

Lyme disease

Borrelia burgdorferi

Tick bite

Lymphogranuloma venereum Malaria

Chlamydia inguinale Plasmodium vivax; Plasmodium malariae; Plasmodium falciparum; Plasmodium ovale Marburg virus

Sexual Bite from Anopheles species mosquito

Weeks to years 1230 days

Marburg hemorrhagic fever

Meningococcal meningitis or bacteremia Mononucleosis

Neisseria meningitidis

Unknown route of transmission 510 days from animals to humans; personto-person by droplets and direct contact Contact with pharyngeal secretions; 210 days perhaps airborne

Epstein-Barr virus

Contact with pharyngeal secretions

46 weeks

Mycobacterial diseases (nontuberculosis Mycobacterium species)

Mycobacterium avium; Mycobacterium kansasii; Mycobacterium fortuitum; Mycobacterium gordonae; other Mycobacterium species

Variable; probably contact with soil, Variable water, or other environmental source; none is person-to-person transmissible

Mycoplasmal pneumonia Norovirus Pediculosis

Mycoplasma pneumoniae Norovirus Pediculus humanus capitis (head louse); Phthirus pubis (crab louse) Bordetella pertussis Enterobius vermicularis

Droplet inhalation Fecaloral by food or water or by personto-person spread Direct contact

1421 days 2448 hours 12 weeks

Pertussis (whooping cough) Pinworm disease

Contact with respiratory droplets Direct contact with egg contaminated articles

710 days 4- to 6-week life cycle; often takes months of infection before recognition Infants: 12 months; adults:unclear Probably 13 days 28 weeks 37 days

Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia Pneumococcal pneumonia Rabies Respiratory syncytial disease

Pneumocystis jiroveci

Unknown; not transmitted persontoperson Droplet spread Bite from rabid animal Self-inoculation by mouth or nose after contact with infectious respiratory secretions Direct and indirect contact with lesions

Streptococcus pneumoniae Rabdo virus Respiratory syncytial virus

Ringworm

Microsporum species; Trichophyton species

410 days

Rocky mountain spotted fever Roseola infantum Rotavirus gastroenteritis Rubella Scabies Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) Smallpox Syphilis Tetanus Trichinosis Tuberculosis

Rickettsia rickettsii

Bite from infected tick

314 days

Human herpes virus 6 Rotavirus Rubella virus Sarcoptes scabei SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV)

Saliva Fecaloral route Droplet spread; direct contact Direct skin contact

1015 days About 48 hours 1421 days 26 weeks

Droplet; direct contact; occasionally 210 days airborne

Variola major Treponema pallidum Clostridium tetani Trichinella spiralis Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Airborne and contact Sexual; perinatal Puncture wound Ingestion of insufciently cooked foods, especially pork and beef Airborne

714 days 10 days to 10 weeks 421 days 1014 days 412 weeks to the formation of primary lesion 314 days

West Nile virus

Bite of infected mosquitoes; from transfusions and transplants; perinatal th Source: Brunner and Suddarth Med-Surgical Nursing 12 Edition pp.2122-2123

West Nile virus