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A vector is a living organism that carries and can transmit an infectious agent between humans, or from animals to humans.

Health promotion encompasses actions and policies that enable people and communities to have control over and improve their health.

Health protection involves:

Disease prevention is what we do to eradicate disease, eliminate disease, or reduce the impact of disease. This can include vaccination (primary prevention), screening for cancer (secondary prevention), or rehabilitation (tertiary prevention).

Sanitation measures minimize the risks of getting diseases related to water, sanitation, and hygiene. These measures include collecting garbage, disposing of wastewater and human waste (feces and urine), managing industrial or hazardous waste, but also simple things like having access to clean water and soap to wash hands.

Mosquitoes, ticks, lice, and fleas are considered vectors because they can spread diseases to humans. When someone gets sick after being bitten by a vector, they have a vector-borne disease. Two well-known vector-borne diseases in Canada are Lyme Disease and West Nile Virus.

Vaccine preventable diseases are illnesses such as chicken pox, tetanus, and shingles which can be prevented – or their impact reduced – by vaccines.

The transmissibility of a disease is how easily it spreads from one person to another.

The transmission of disease is the way in which infectious agents spread from a source or reservoir to a person.

Test-and-treat is a strategy that involves screening for infection and implementing early treatment for those that are diagnosed. This strategy reduces both the progression and the spread of the disease.

Screening is the practice of checking for disease when there are no symptoms. The goal of screening is early detection and treatment of a disease.  Mammograms and colonoscopies are examples of screening practices.

Social prescribing is a holistic approach to improving health and well-being that emphasizes activities that strengthen connections to community and other non-medical supports and services. Healthcare providers use the familiar and trusted process of writing a prescription to refer patients to art class, a choir, or a hiking group, for example.