Diseases Caused By Germs. (Dealing with Diseases).(Brief Article)

Here's the Catch

When you're sick with something like strep throat, you should not be at school. You should stay home and take the medicine a doctor orders until you feel better. Strep throat can be passed from one person to another. It is communicable (kom-un-ik-abl). Some other communicable diseases are a cold, flu, chicken pox, and bronchitis.

Why can you go to school if you have a disease like asthma but not if you have strep throat? Asthma is a disease that a person can't catch from someone else. It is noncommunicable (non-kom-un'-ik-abl).

Communicable diseases are caused by germs called bacteria and viruses. Germs can travel from person to person. The cold is the most common communicable disease. It is caused by a virus. You catch it when the virus that causes the cold enters your body.

Here's how that often happens: Your friend, who has a cold, sneezes into his hand. Now the viruses are on his hand. Then he hands you a pencil. Now the viruses are on the pencil. You take the pencil. Now the viruses are on YOUR hand. You rub your eyes or put your finger in your mouth. Now the viruses are in your body. But you can get rid of the viruses by washing your hands with soap and warm water. ...