Disseminated diseases spread from their initial point of origin to other parts of the body, usually through the bloodstream or lymphatic system. Cancer and infectious diseases caused by bacteria, fungi, and viruses can become disseminated diseases. Treatment involves a combination of drugs and antibiotics. Some infectious organisms known to cause disseminated disease include amoebae, bacteria, and fungi.
A disseminated disease is a type of disease that has spread from its initial point of origin or contact in the body to other regions that were not its specific target of attack. It usually spreads through the blood supply or the lymphatic system which carries white blood cells in the plasma to fight infection. There are generally two common types in humans: those caused by cancer, in which cancer cells spread throughout the body; and infectious diseases caused by bacteria, fungi and viruses. Infections that tend to become a form of disseminated disease include AIDS, tuberculosis, and subcutaneous skin infections such as those that cause gangrene.
Cancer is considered a form of disseminated disease, as it uses the body’s bloodstream to metastasize, where it transfers copies of itself to other regions. Treatment of widespread diseases involving cancer has been done since the 1950s with chemotherapy agents, which can kill cancer cells as they spread. In the 1970s, some antibiotics were also found to have beneficial effects against cancer, such as actinomycin-D and bleomycin, so combinations of these agents along with chemotherapy treatments were initiated. In combination treatments since 1965, up to 70% of patients in the new regimen showed positive reactions when the compound cisplatin was included. This is still a common cancer treatment as of 2011, with new drug combinations leading to a cancer-free status in 61% to 83% of patients depending on the type of cancer.
Tuberculosis is a disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis carried by airborne water droplets that infect the lungs. In rare cases, tuberculosis becomes a widespread disease that spreads to many parts of the body, such as the bones, intestines, and lining of the heart. People most prone to disseminated tuberculosis are those with weak immune systems, such as the elderly, HIV patients, and infants. As with cancer, the disseminated disease form of tuberculosis is treated with a combination of ten or more different chemicals and antibiotics.
As of 2011, medical science has detected a specific range of infectious organisms known to be probable causes of disseminated disease. Amoebae, like several species of Acanthamoeba, may be responsible for disseminated disease even though they do not require a human host to live on as viruses do and do not have specific human or animal carriers. M. chelonae, M. avium-intracellulare, and M. abscessus bacteria are known to be responsible for AIDS-related lung, soft tissue, and disseminated diseases, respectively. Fungi of the Hyalohyphomycoses group also cause disseminated disease conditions that are more common in immunosuppressed individuals and people who have recently had transplants. Examples of the more common species of fungi in this group that cause infectious disease include Fusarium spp., Acremonium spp. and Paecilomyces spp.
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