Infectious diseases make up stubborn and substantive public-health concerns throughout the globe. Even if some of the diseases such as poliomyelitis, and smallpox have been eliminated from nature or nearly exterminated, numerous infections persist with massive efforts being dedicated to controlling and eliminating them (Fonkwo, 2008). Furthermore, new infectious illnesses are evolving and some diseases deemed to be fully controlled are aggressively emerging. According to data from the US National Institutes of Health, more than 15 new contagious diseases have been established in the last two decades while five different ones have been found to be re-emerging (NIH, 2008). Many of the newly discovered disease agents have possibly existed as non-pathogenic organisms but environmental factors may have caused them to mutate into pathogenic microorganisms. Following the development of antibiotics and the effective suppression of smallpox in the mid-twentieth century, it appeared that humanity was on the way to completely freeing itself of communicable diseases. However, in the course of the past two decades, microorganisms have displayed a persistent capability to adjust, re-adapt, endure and defy human inventiveness in eradicating them. The effect of infectious diseases is massive and is experienced throughout the world. In addition to upsetting the well-being of individuals directly, contagious illnesses are also having an effect on entire societies, political systems, and economies. As for the nations in the global south, fundamental sectors for continued advancement such as education and health have seen a striking reduction in the numbers of skilled personnel, most remarkably to tuberculosis (TB), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and malaria (Funk, Salathé, & Jansen, 2010). Microbes relentlessly modify their genetic composition, which vexes the development of vaccines to deal with infectious illnesses. This genetic tractability enables numerous infectious agents to transmute or change into more lethal strains against which human beings lack adequate resistance. Some good examples include influenza and HIV viruses which frequently transmute and recombine to defy the defense mechanisms of the host. In the literature review, the study will make use of research studies on theoretical models regarding behavior and the assumed effects of such behavior. In particular, the study will make use of academic studies conducted so far to investigate the effect of individual behavior on the spread of infectious diseases. This will enhance the understanding of the relationship between infectious disease-changing aspects and social behavior. It is a fact that human behavior has been found to associate with the spread of contagious diseases (Funk, Gilad & Jansen, 2010). As such reviewing the studies will provide the needed information towards realizing the research’s topic. A list of the relevant studies on human behavior and the spread of contagious diseases will be obtained from different scholarly databases such as Google scholar and the University library. From the list, the most relevant, peer-reviewed/non-peer reviewed and up-to-date research articles will be chosen for review. The problem of contagious diseases cannot be overestimated. It is probable that such diseases could worsen, and in some scenarios, aggravate added economic deterioration, social disintegration, and political destabilization, particularly in developing countries. These viruses and other infectious pathogens not only inflict a massive bodily toll on human beings but also lead to noteworthy economic declines both directly and indirectly in the global south and in the developed world respectively. The WHO, (2008) approximates that over 30 million individuals have contracted HIV all over the world since the onset of the pandemic in 1983. Worse still, over 2 million mortality cases due to HIV occurred in the year 1998. Among developed countries, HIV/AIDS serves as the prominent cause of demise among young adults. The economic declines inflicted by communicable diseases—particularly malaria and HIV/AIDS — are substantial, especially in developing countries. Their cumulative toll on human productivity due to mortality and chronic incapacitating infections decreased profitability and diminished foreign ventures have impacted substantially negative effects on the economic progression of the developing countries. Data from WHO, (2008) indicates that up to one billion people subsisted on below one US dollar per day in 2001 alone. This indicates that the economic costs of infectious diseases—especially HIV/AIDS and malaria— are significant. As such, it is not only a public health concern, but a major economic concern, to devote resources and consolidate internationally harmonized strategies toward fighting the main infectious illnesses, or at the very least, bring them under control. This, therefore, points out a need to study the behavioral and social patterns that influence the spread of infectious diseases among young adults with the aim of improving the physical health and economic productivity of human populations. The study will use a questionnaire method to obtain the needed data. It will employ the cross-sectional design to allow interviewing of a single individual at a time. The target population is young adults in the university. The university is chosen due to the high number of young adults who comprise a significant portion of the university population.
Sampling technique
The sampling technique to be used for this study is based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Only eligible respondents will be chosen across the university.
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Inclusion criterion
The inclusion criterion will be basically on attributes of the subjects that were essential for their selection to participate. In this study, it will be based on all students aged 18 to 30 years and willing to take part in the study.
Exclusion criterion
The exclusion criterion will be on any attributes of the subjects that require their elimination as respondents. This study will be based on all students at the university below 18 years and above 30 years as well as eligible candidates who will NOT be willing to participate in the study.
Pre-Testing
It will be important to pretest the questions in terms of the length, content, question-wording, and time taken to complete the questionnaire. This will be necessary to facilitate modifications to the questions and correct mistakes.
Ethical Consideration
Permission to carry out the research in the university will be sought from the university administration. Informed consent will be sought from each respondent by signing a consent form after being assured of the confidentiality of the information provided and that the information given by them will be used solely for study purposes. The validity of research refers to the extent to which it fulfills the necessities of the scientific research method in generating findings. As pertaining to this research proposal, the major threat is instrumentation as different meanings may be deduced from the questions by the respondents in the self-administered questionnaire. Another threat would be respondents failing to return the questionnaires or dropping out after the study has commenced. The effect of pretesting may also affect the validity of the research proposal. The main tool of data collection will be the use of questionnaires. Structured questionnaires will be self-administered to the respondents. The data to be collected will directly relate to the research questions. Data collected will be analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) software. The research questions will form the categories through which data will be entered for analysis. Findings will be presented in the form of tables, bar graphs, and pie charts. Data interpretation will be done with the use of frequencies, percentages, and pie charts. Trends and patterns will be deduced from the graphic representations of data.
Conclusion
Infectious diseases have a massively negative impact that is experienced throughout the world. Other than adversely affecting the health of individuals directly, communicable illnesses also greatly affect world economies. As such, it is important to focus on measures towards curtailing the spread of diseases to reduce their impact. A major aspect to consider is human behavior as it is significant for the onset and spread of infectious diseases. Therefore, this research proposal aims at studying the behavioral and social patterns that influence the spread of infectious diseases. It will make use of respondent-administered questionnaires to obtain the needed data. Data analysis will be through statistical software that will allow for the identification of trends and behavioral patterns in accordance with the research questions.
References
Fonkwo, P. N. (2008). Pricing infectious disease: The economic and health implications of infectious diseases. EMBO reports , 9(1S), S13-S17.
Funk, S., Gilad, E., & Jansen, V. A. A. (2010). Endemic disease, awareness, and local behavioural response. Journal of theoretical biology , 264(2), 501-509.
Funk, S., Salathé, M., & Jansen, V. A. (2010). Modelling the influence of human behavior on the spread of infectious diseases: a review. Journal of the Royal Society Interface , rsif20100142.
NIH. (2008). Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases . National Institutes of Health.
WHO. (2008). The Burden of Tuberculosis: Economic Burden . Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.
