1: Overview Flashcards
do pathogens want to infect us and give us disease?
pathogen only cares about replicating and transmitting
do not intend to cause disease but will if it helps for survival, transmission and replication
what does a vaccine do?
helps prevent diseases but doesn’t prevent infection
the big three
HIV, TB and malaria
called the big three because together, they are the individual highest causes of death in the world
the big three being very different pathogens
all intra-cellular pathogens but different organisms
body has to deal with an incredible variety of pathogen sizes, structures, locations, functions, etc.
epidemiology
study of epidemics (infectious diseases)
evolution of epidemiology
miasma theory: bad air causes disease
germ theory: microbes cause disease
zoonotic / zoonosis
disease with an animal reservoir (that can then infect humans)
you have to have an animal reservoir for the infection to be sustained/continue
e.g. true zoonosis as rabies
enzootic
pathogen present in animals
animal-to-animal transition, with the potential to become zoonotic
epidemic
outbreak of infectious disease above the normal level of infections that then subsides
pandemic
epidemic that occurs over a wide area
endemic
infection continually present in a population or geographic area
a plague
serious disease afflicting a population
the plague
specific disease caused by yersinia pestis
innate immunity
critical in limiting the spread of pathogens during initial infection, and then activating the adaptive immune system
adaptive immunity
fully eliminates specific pathogens
memory to be better prepared for a second infection with the same pathogen
