<P> Persistent infections cause millions of deaths globally each year . Chronic infections by parasites account for a high morbidity and mortality in many underdeveloped countries . </P> <P> For infecting organisms to survive and repeat the infection cycle in other hosts, they (or their progeny) must leave an existing reservoir and cause infection elsewhere . Infection transmission can take place via many potential routes: </P> <Ul> <Li> Droplet contact, also known as the respiratory route, and the resultant infection can be termed airborne disease . If an infected person coughs or sneezes on another person the microorganisms, suspended in warm, moist droplets, may enter the body through the nose, mouth or eye surfaces . </Li> <Li> Fecal - oral transmission, wherein foodstuffs or water become contaminated (by people not washing their hands before preparing food, or untreated sewage being released into a drinking water supply) and the people who eat and drink them become infected . Common fecal - oral transmitted pathogens include Vibrio cholerae, Giardia species, rotaviruses, Entameba histolytica, Escherichia coli, and tape worms . Most of these pathogens cause gastroenteritis . </Li> <Li> Sexual transmission, with the resulting disease being called sexually transmitted disease </Li> <Li> Oral transmission, Diseases that are transmitted primarily by oral means may be caught through direct oral contact such as kissing, or by indirect contact such as by sharing a drinking glass or a cigarette . </Li> <Li> Transmission by direct contact, Some diseases that are transmissible by direct contact include athlete's foot, impetigo and warts </Li> <Li> Vehicle Transmission, transmission by an inanimate reservoir (food, water, soil). </Li> <Li> Vertical transmission, directly from the mother to an embryo, fetus or baby during pregnancy or childbirth . It can occur when the mother gets an infection as an intercurrent disease in pregnancy . </Li> <Li> Iatrogenic transmission, due to medical procedures such as injection or transplantation of infected material . </Li> </Ul> <Li> Droplet contact, also known as the respiratory route, and the resultant infection can be termed airborne disease . If an infected person coughs or sneezes on another person the microorganisms, suspended in warm, moist droplets, may enter the body through the nose, mouth or eye surfaces . </Li>

3 types of direct transmission of infectious disease