Stages of Infectious Disease:
– The time between the acquisition of the pathogen and the onset of symptoms.
– Nonspecific symptoms, such as fever or tiredness, occur.
- Disease-specific symptoms
– Increase rapidly
– As the host immune system and/or treatments effectively reduce the number of pathogens, symptoms decrease (also called the convalescence stage).
– Ultimately, symptoms disappear and the individual returns to health.
– However, some individuals may become chronic carriers of the infectious agents or develop latent infections that can reoccur.
