page_title: Transmission (medicine)
section_title: Vertical
hierarchical_section_title: Transmission (medicine) / Routes of transmission / Direct contact / Vertical
context_page_description: In medicine, public health, and biology, transmission is the passing of a pathogen causing communicable disease from an infected host individual or group to a particular individual or group, regardless of whether the other individual was previously infected.
  The term strictly refers to the transmission of microorganisms directly from one individual to another by one or more of the following means:
  airborne transmission – very small dry and wet particles that stay in the air for long periods of time allowing airborne contamination even after the departure of the host. Particle size < 5 μm.
  droplet transmission – small and usually wet particles that stay in the air for a short period of time. Contamination usually occurs in the presence of the host. Particle size > 5 μm.
  direct physical contact – touching an infected individual, including sexual contact
  indirect physical contact – usually by touching a contaminated surface, including soil
  fecal–oral transmission – usually from unwashed hands, contaminated food or water sources due to lack of sanitation and hygiene, an important transmission route in pediatrics, veterinary medicine and developing countries.
context_section_description: This is from mother to child (more rarely father to child), often in utero, during childbirth (also referred to as perinatal infection) or during postnatal physical contact between parents and offspring. In mammals, including humans, it occurs also via breast milk (transmammary transmission). Infectious diseases that can be transmitted in this way include: HIV, hepatitis B and syphilis. Many mutualistic organisms are transmitted vertically.
caption: Brocky, Karoly - Mother and Child (1846-50)
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