what are the diseases caused by virus?
Viruses cause many diseases. Some of the diseases caused by viruses are listed below.
Diseases and incubation periods |
Causative organisms |
Symptoms |
Transmission |
Control and prevention |
Poliomyelitis (polio); 9−14 days |
Poliovirus | Fever, headache, stiffness or paralysis of limbs | Droplet infection, faeces and nasal secretion | Administering oral polio vaccine to children in the age group of 18−24 months |
Mumps; 12−26 days |
Mumps virus (Paramyxovirus) | Swelling of parotid salivary glands, mainly in children | Droplet infection | MMR vaccine; quarantining the patient |
Rabies; 14 days to several months | Rabies virus | Headache, nervousness, fever, painful spasms, fear of water (hydrophobia) | Bite of infected animal | Rabies vaccine, cleaning bite wound, checking if animal was rabid; immunization of pets and humans with anti-rabies vaccine |
Influenza (flu); 48 hours | Myxovirus (3 strains) | Fever, headache, sore throat, muscular aches | Droplet infection | Influenza vaccine; keeping the mouth and nose covered while sneezing, staying away from infected persons |
Measles; 10−12 days |
Paramyxovirus | Sore throat, cough, fever, skin rashes | Droplet infection | Administering MMR vaccine to children in the age group of 9−15 months |
Chickenpox; 14−20 days | Varicella zoster | Fever, headache, rashes (which later form crusts on the skin) | Droplet infection | Vaccination; single attack gives lifelong immunity |
Common cold; 1−3 days | Rhinovirus | Sneezing, coughing, sore throat, infection of the upper respiratory tract, fever, chills, headache, nasal secretion | Droplet infection | Antibiotics; taking adequate rest; covering the mouth and nose while sneezing |
Jaundice 2-3 weeks |
Hepatitis virus | High fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, dark yellow urine | Contaminated food and water | Maintaining good hygiene and sanitary conditions, avoiding stale food |
Hepatitis B; 6 weeks to 6 months |
Hepatitis virus | Flu-like symptoms, jaundice, nausea, loss of appetite | Blood to blood and though sexual contact | Hepatitis-B vaccine, 3 doses of the vaccine and one booster dose for children in the age group of 1−3 months, control-injection of interferon on the advice of the doctor, using chlorinated and boiled water, avoiding fatty and protein-rich food |
AIDS; 28 months |
HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) | Fatigue, loss of weight, dry cough, oral rashes, headache, occurrence of cancers and lung infections | Blood to blood and through sexual contact | No cure; avoiding sexual contact with unknown persons, screening blood before transfusion, avoiding sharing of needles |