Talk:Infection

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 18 August 2020 and 9 December 2020. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Bromine00.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 22:59, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 12 August 2020 and 25 November 2020. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Kef283.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 00:29, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Redirect from "Infected Wound"
I reached this page from a link to "infected wound" and found little relevant information. I think information related to infections acquired from open wound should be added to this page, or an article should be created for this topic. Threepenpals (talk) 00:09, 8 November 2011 (UTC)

Medical Connotations
The general definition of infection and whatnot is all well and good, but shouldn't this also include information in the context that you can get an infection? I could contribute a picture or two :D theanphibian 03:45, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

Poop
Is poop supposed to be in the pathogen list? --128.12.38.211 10:38, 4 November 2007 (UTC)

Line 1 says an infection is caused by an ORGANISM. Viruses are not generally considered organisms. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.241.46.221 (talk) 02:03, 16 September 2009 (UTC)

Wiktionary
I've put up an entry in Wiktionary, Infection that contains only a link-box leading to this article (the meaning of this template is completely different between the Wiktionary and Wikipedia name spaces). That is definitely not a good way to fill Wiktionary, but will suffice for now.

Courtland 03:00, 2005 Apr 5 (UTC)

Babylon 5
Babylon 5? Please. Fanboys are the bane of the wiki.


 * Please review Disambiguation. JFW | T@lk  13:30, 11 November 2005 (UTC)

I'm for removing the disambiguation link from the article because it mentions the title of only one out of 110 episodes of Babylon 5. I'd consider it useful if it was the title of a whole tv series / movie / ... . I saw that there's a whole article about that episode (about each episode to be accurate), so I see that it might make sense to keep the link. But, as you can read in Disambiguation: Ask yourself: When a reader enters this term and pushes "Go", what article would they realistically be expecting to view as a result? I don't think anyone would expect to find an article about a Babylon 5 epsiode when entering infection. Anyone who wants to know something about the episode will go to the Babylon 5 article first. --Tim81 10:13, 17 November 2005 (UTC)


 * I was the one who put the link back in, but actually I totally don't care whether it ends up in or out. Does anyone have a realistic idea of how many people are likely to search for the Babylon 5 episode?  Would people like it better if the disambig link were at the bottom of the page?  I'm fine with whatever's decided.  delldot | talk 15:56, 17 November 2005 (UTC)


 * I took out the Babylon 5 link. It's been three weeks and nobody's defended it. If it goes back in, it should be at the bottom. 69.9.30.78 17:11, 6 December 2005 (UTC)

Infection Protection Link removed
I removed the link that was just to a riddiculous book that you could buy on 'protecting your family from infection'

Bad religion?
I do not see why there is a link to the wiki page for this band. They're good but they're not bactria or the like.

172.142.194.246 18:11, 12 January 2007 (UTC)supersonicjim
 * You must be talking about the link at the top of the page that says For other uses, see Infection (disambiguation), right? That's a disambiguation link, to aid people who type in infection looking for something other than the medical concept.  It's common practice in Wikipedia to aid navigation.  You can check out WP:DISAMBIG for more info.  Let me know on my talk page if you have any questions or want to discuss anything. delldot | talk 02:27, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Surgical site infections are not mentioned. More people should be made aware of them. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sdogg04 (talk • contribs) 03:18, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

Bacterial Infection
What is a Bacterial Infection? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.26.220.151 (talk) 12:14, 17 February 2008 (UTC)


 * With reference to humans, it's when bacteria colonise a part of the body resulting in illness. A lot of bacteria live on and in the human body without causing any trouble, but if one gets where it shouldn't be (like if you get a cut or something) then it can start multiplying in that place. This would be termed a bacterial infection. Two things are then likely to happen: first, the bacteria might make substances which are toxic to the human; and second, the human immune system will get activated resulting in inflammation. There are a whole load of different types of infection because a)there are lots of different types of bacteria and b)there are many places in the body that can be colonised. Does that answer your question? Johnhglen (talk) 20:28, 17 February 2008 (UTC)
 * In that case, the initial sentence is incorrect: "An infection is the colonization of a host organism by parasite species," for it thoroughly misleads readers into thinking that an infection is synonymous with a colonization.  DRosenbach  ( Talk 12:10, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Infecting pathogens
Is the sentence describing the types of pathogens that can cause an infection really necessary? I would have thought that job is served by an internal link to the article on pathogens? Emble64 (talk) 17:17, 15 September 2010 (UTC)

I've just made quite a few changes to the organisation of the article, correcting some grammar and streamlining some sentences along the way. It was quite bitty and things had been repeated in multiple parts. Larger sections had also become disjointed. Hopefully it flows better now - do make alterations if I've done anything inappropriate. I found it helpful to organise things centrally around the infection stages - anyone got a diagram that shows this clearly? Other work is still needed. I question whether the examples of infection are really needed - there are already pages devoted to each of these. If they are particularly impoertant, this needs justifying e.g. what was the first infection ever described/diagnosed or treated with antibiotics??? Stuff on the medical side of things also seems a bit colloquial (e.g. Diagnosis section) - any doctors want to help formalise language there? Emble64 (talk) 17:33, 22 October 2010 (UTC)

More systematic classifications
Instead of mentioning some seemingly random examples of infections, I suggest making a rather systematic classification, both by types of parasites or pathogens (such as bacterial infection, viral infection, fungal infection, etc...) and by site (such as ear infection, skin infection, etc...). Mikael Häggström (talk) 09:15, 4 August 2011 (UTC)
 * ✅ Mikael Häggström (talk) 05:26, 28 November 2013 (UTC)

Deer Tick?
"This may mean touching infected bodily fluids or drinking contaminated water or being bitten by the deer tick."

Why specifically mention the deer tick? 75.67.78.105 (talk) 18:04, 28 September 2011 (UTC)

Definition that starts the article is not correct
The definition that starts this article is not correct according to medical dictionaries. The immune system, which starts working after infection, is mentioned at the right place in the third sentence but should not be part of the definition of infection, inflammation which is the immediate response of the innate immune system is the "body's defensive response to the tissue damage caused by infection." (Black's definition, see below). The following is the best definition I could find from Mosby's Dental Dictionary, 2nd edition. © 2008 Elsevier, also removed weasle words "colloquially, infections are usually considered to be...", definitions should be short and precise.

Changed to:

"An infection is the invasion of body tissues by disease-causing microorganisms, their multiplication and the reaction of body tissues to these microorganisms and the toxins that they produce. Infections are caused by microorganisms such as viruses, prions, bacteria, and viroids, though larger organisms like macroparasites and fungi can also infect.

From:

"An infection is the immune response to a colonization of a host organism by parasite species. Infecting parasites seek to use the host's resources to reproduce, often resulting in disease. Colloquially, infections are usually considered to be caused by microorganisms or microparasites like viruses, prions, bacteria, and viroids, though larger organisms like macroparasites and fungi can also infect."

The definition in Black's microbiology in the chapter "host-microbe relationships and disease processes" is consistent with this:

"Infection refers to the multiplication of any parasitic organism within or on the host's body." (Black, Jacquelyn G. Microbiology: Principles and explanations, 7th edition, page 402)

One thing I see that this page did have a correct definition in past. Paraphrasing and always sticking close to medical dictionary definitions could prevent incorrect definitions creeping in :)

The word "colonization" used in the original was not a good choice because it actually has a medical definition which no one is going to be familiar with (or at least needs to be defined before being used):

1. [the presence and multiplication of microorganisms without tissue invasion or damage. The colonies develop when a bacterial cell begins reproducing] [http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/colonization Mosby's Medical Dictionary, 8th edition. 2009, Elsevier] or:

2. "According to Black colonization is not enough to cause an infection. The microbes must also be able to colonize the cell's surface or to penetrate it. Colonization refers to the growth of microorganisms on epithelial surfaces, such as skin or mucous membranes or other host tissues. For colonization to to occur after adherence, the pathogens must survive and reproduce despite host defense mechanisms..." (p. 409). In defining words, one should use words simpler than the word or term being defined :)

Fernquestjon (talk) 09:42, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

rework of article
Is anyone else from WP:MED actively monitoring this article? I'd like to suggest a rework of it.

The problem is the scope is so wide (viral, bacterial, mycosis, etc…) that it’s impossible to succinctly discuss the pathophysiology, signs, symptoms, investigation and treatment. I’d like to suggest that we limit the infection article to classification and the history of our knowledge of transmissible agents as sources of disease then create 5 articles for: Bacterial infection, Viral infection, Parasitic infection, Fungal infection, and Prion infection.

Alternatively, break the article down with the first 2 sections as “history of transmissible agents as sources of disease” then classification. Then 5 sections on Bacterial infection, Viral infection, Parasitic infection, Fungal infection, and Prion infection. Within each of those sections have uniform subsections of classification, pathophysiology, symptoms, signs, treatment.

Thoughts? Ian Furst (talk) 14:59, 25 February 2013 (UTC)

Polymicrobial
Please use and define this term. Lesion ( talk ) 12:29, 15 July 2013 (UTC)

Medical Specialty: infectiology vs infectious disease
On the article infectious disease (medical specialty) there is an RFC regarding the title of the article. That article is about the field of medicine dedicated to the study and treatment of infectious diseases. At some point, the article was renamed "infectious medicine", the emerging consensus from the RFC (backed by authoritative sources) describes the medical field as "infectious disease" and so editors are going to proceed with renaming it as such. I noticed that the Medical category navigation also used this title, and continued followup lead me here. On this article, the lede described the medical specialty as "infectiology", a term that does not appear to be widely used. Further, there is no article for "infectiology" (redirects here?). I have edited this article to change references to the term "infectiology", and linked to the appropriate soon-to-be-renamed article on "infectious disease (medical specialty)". If anyone takes issue with this and has some informed/referenced insight, please let it be known on the related page. -- Forridean  (T/C) 21:30, 20 August 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
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I have just added archive links to 8 one external links on Infection. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20130825011645/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/books/bv.fcgi?rid=mmed to http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=mmed
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20120305023556/http://www.rencareltd.com:80/conditions/infections/ to http://www.rencareltd.com/conditions/infections/
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20140517095153/http://infectioncycle.com/ to http://www.infectioncycle.com/
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20150722065612/http://www.persistentinfection.net/ to http://www.persistentinfection.net/
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20150426151618/http://getridofwartsforever.info/bacterial-vs-viral-infections/ to http://getridofwartsforever.info/bacterial-vs-viral-infections
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20150721040348/http://eee.uci.edu/clients/bjbecker/PlaguesandPeople/lecture3.html to http://eee.uci.edu/clients/bjbecker/PlaguesandPeople/lecture3.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20130516083916/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=vacc.chapter.3 to http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=vacc.chapter.3
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Prevention
The article says "Techniques like hand washing, wearing gowns, and wearing face masks can help prevent infections from being passed from one person to another. Frequent hand washing remains the most important defense against the spread of unwanted organisms.[22] There are other forms of prevention such as avoiding the use of illicit drugs, using a condom, and having a healthy lifestyle with a balanced diet and regular exercise. Cooking foods well and avoiding foods that have been left outside for a long time is also important." I question, first, the nonspecific recommendation of "wearing gowns." I'm sitting in an easy chair while typing this, and wearing a shirt and trousers. Should I go get a "gown" and wear it? Does it refer to a surgeon wearing a gown while operating? Should it in that case specify a sterile gown, or could he wear any old gown? I added a link to Asepsis since Semmelweis and Lister greatly reduced the incidence of surgical infections by using disinfectants and others later other 19th century surgeons emphasized aseptic technique: cleaning the incision site, applying antiseptic to the skin at the incision site, surround with sterile drapes, using sterile sutures, cleaning and disinfecting hands, later still wearing sterile rubber gloves, using instruments which can be sterilized (no ivory handles), wearing a sterile gown, later wearing a sterile gauze face mask. My second objection is to the bare recommendation of "wearing face masks" with no elaboration. When should they be worn? I see in news videos that some folks in some Asian countries go around wearing surgical masks all the time. Does this section promote such behavior, or is the goal to promote aseptic surgery, or to wear a surgical mask or N95 mask when one has a respiratory infection, or while in the presence of someone with a respiratory infection or MRSA or other highly dread pathogens, or while in the presence of an immunocompromised person? The third problem is recommendation of "avoiding foods that have been left outside for a long time." This is too vague and sounds like the vegetables growing in my back yard might cause an infection, since they have been "left outside" for months while they were growing. Should it instead refer to avoiding perishable foods which are spoiled? Frequent hand washing, at least before handling food or doing medical procedures, sounds like a fine idea. Constantly washing hands for no reason sounds like obsessive compulsive behavior. I propose a general rewrite of the paragraph, with references, unless the present language can be cited directly to reliable sources.Edison (talk) 19:01, 19 August 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
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Clarification
This revert. It was not a joke. I was thinking it didn't make sense to say "referring a person with infectious disease to infectious disease". --Convulsion fizzled (talk) 15:07, 27 October 2019 (UTC)

Potential Sources for "Society and Culture" Section
Hey there, I'm a new Wikipedian and my class and I are editing the Society and Culture section of this article for our class project. I created a bibliography of some potential sources here and wanted to get some opinions on whether they would make a good contribution or not. Thanks!

Bibliography

Blake.Travis (talk) 03:01, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

The history of microbiology
What is the history of microbiology? 165.58.129.149 (talk) 11:18, 1 February 2022 (UTC)

Hi, how is your question relevant to the article? Cinadon36 17:52, 1 February 2022 (UTC)

Surgery
Local factor of infection 2409:4064:E8A:88E6:0:0:3089:2E05 (talk) 14:22, 25 August 2022 (UTC)

Effect of climate change
Is there an open-ness by other editors towards adding something on the effects of climate change on infectious diseases? At the very least I would like to add climate change and infectious diseases under See also (I think that list is actually too long). But it might warrant a sub-heading with an excerpt from climate change and infectious diseases. EMsmile (talk) 12:04, 12 October 2023 (UTC)