Emerging Infectious Diseases

Respiratory diseases

Respiratory infection means any of a number of infectious diseases originating in respiratory tract. This type of infection is normally further classified as an upper respiratory tract infection (URI or URTI) or a lower respiratory tract infection (LRI or LRTI). A lower respiratory infection, such as pneumonia, appears to be far more serious conditions than upper respiratory infections, such as the common cold. Respiratory disease is a medical term that focuses on pathological conditions affecting the organs and tissues that makes gas exchange possible in higher organisms, and includes upper respiratory tract, trachea, bronchi, alveoli, pleural cavity and the nerves and muscles of breathing. These diseases range from mild and self-limiting, such as the common cold, to life-threatening like bacterial pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, and lung cancer. The study of respiratory disease is referred as pulmonology. A doctor who specializes in respiratory disease is known as a pulmonologist, a chest medicine specialist, a respiratory medicine specialist, a respirologist or a thoracic medicine specialist. Respiratory ailments can be categorised in many possible ways, including by the organ or tissue involved, by the types or pattern of associated signs and symptoms, or by the cause of the disease.