Public Health Prevention Strategies

Study Notes

Control of infectious diseases aims to reduce or eliminate long-term impairments through individual and community-wide measures.
Tertiary prevention reduces or eliminates disabilities, minimizes suffering, and promotes adjustment to permanent disabilities through actions such as:
- Providing orthopedic appliances
- Counselling
- Vocational training
- Prevention of opportunistic infections

The Chain of Infection is the relationship between an infectious agent, its routes of transmission, and a susceptible host.
Control efforts are designed to break the routes of transmission, which include:
- Reservoirs or sources of infection (e.g. people, other living organisms, or inanimate materials)
- Horizontal transmission (transmission between individuals)
Infectious agents include:
- Bacteria
- Rickettsia
- Chlamydiae
- Fungi
- Parasites
- Viruses
- Prions

Secondary prevention corrects departures from good health through individual and community-wide measures such as:
- Early detection of disease
- Prompt antibiotic treatment
- Ensuring adequate nutrition
Control aimed at reducing disease prevalence by shortening the duration of infectious disease can also be considered as secondary prevention.

The COVID-19 pandemic was first reported on 31 December 2019 in Wuhan, China.
As of 3 May 2023, there have been 765,222,932 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 6,921,614 deaths, reported to WHO.
As of 4 May 2023, a total of 13,349,209,463 vaccine doses have been administered.

The only way to prevent infection is to stop the transmission of microorganisms.
The best way to prevent infections is by following standard precautions.