5 Most Common Infectious Diseases

According to the World Health Organization, as of 2011, there were 12,420 different diseases and health disorders. In other words, you should thank your immune system and modern medicine before you go to sleep every night.

Of these multiple diseases, maybe none is more common than infectious diseases. Explained by the WHO as “any pathogenic microorganism that can be spread directly or indirectly from one to another.

In a given year, we’re talking about literally billions of people who will be affected by an infectious disease. Keep in mind, of course, that it can be something as simple as a common cold. Which is often nothing more than a hassle, to something as serious as the HIV/AIDS virus, which has sworn millions of lives since the epidemic began.

Based on WHO statistics from the 1980s, AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined account for half of all deaths from infectious diseases each year.

Lab worker with a protective mask holding a petri dish with yellow cells.
With that in mind, today we’re going to look at five of the most common infectious diseases around the world. As we go through these infectious diseases, one by one, understand that most of this data is an estimate because it estimates infection rates in developing countries where access to health care may be limited. Difficult to apply. Therefore, the data can be left to a bit of interpretation based on statistics from the WHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition, we will also see what, if any, global pharmaceutical companies can capitalize on this multi-million, and even billion-person, opportunity.

so here are the five most common infectious diseases.

1. Hepatitis b
According to current data, hepatitis B is the world’s most common infectious disease, affecting nearly 2 billion people — more than a quarter of the world’s population. The disease, which involves inflammation of the liver that causes jaundice, nausea, and fatigue, can lead to long-term complications such as cirrhosis of the liver or liver cancer. The concern is mainly for those who carry the chronic form of the disease, which is estimated to be about 350 million people.

According to Gilead’s third-quarter report, sales of the drug rose 11 percent during the first nine months from a year earlier and should provide total sales of more than $900 million by the end of fiscal 2013.  With a strong presence in AIDS treatment as well, Gilead is fast becoming an infectious disease juggernaut.

Another name here is Dynavax Technologies. Although the FDA has been less than cooperative with Dynavax’s efforts to bring Heplisav to market, which means the company may need to conduct an additional trial to address its safety concerns, Heplisav has been approved in clinical trials. had shown amazing effectiveness.

2. Malaria
Malaria, a mosquito-borne disease that mostly affects children in tropical and subtropical climates, affects more than 500 million people annually and results in between 1 million and 3 million deaths. Behind hepatitis B, it appears to be the second most common infectious disease, and it is certainly the deadliest on an annual basis.

Increased public awareness of the dangers of mosquitoes in tropical and subtropical climates has helped somewhat. unfortunately, malaria cases have risen again in recent years.

3. Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is a less typical and less severe form of hepatitis, but it nearly always develops into a chronic, acute, situation, unlike hepatitis B. Have this chronic condition, which over time can lead to liver cancer or cirrhosis of the liver

4. Dengue
At times like these, we curse mosquitoes, because a very specific type of mosquito is responsible for transmitting dengue to about 50 million people every year. Dengue is most common in Africa and Asia and thankfully occurs only in mild to moderate forms, which can cause high fever, severe headache, and joint and muscle pain, but rarely. It leads to the death of the infected patient.

Surprisingly, although this infectious disease affects about 50 million people annually, no specific drug has been developed to treat dengue fever. The most commonly prescribed drug to relieve the symptoms associated with dengue fever is … Tylenol. That’s right, Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ -1.57%) Tylenol, whose functional element acetaminophen, works to relieve both fever and muscle pain in patients. In the most severe cases of dengue fever, IVs and blood transfusions may be required.

5. Tuberculosis
As I mentioned earlier, predicting new and ongoing cases of some of these diseases can be downright difficult, and perhaps none more so than tuberculosis. TB is caused by bacteria in the lungs that can cause chest pain and a bad cough, as well as many other nasty side effects. According to the WHO, it is also the second biggest global killer behind AIDS as a single infectious agent.

The majority (95%) of TB-related deaths occur in low- to middle-income countries where TB awareness and prevention are simply not where they need to be. The good news is that the death rate from TB is decreasing globally. However, there were still 8.6 million new cases of TB reported last year. about a third of the world’s population has a latent form of TB, meaning they have been infected.