1.8 Changing Pathogens Flashcards
What can pathogens do?
Mutate
What happens when pathogens mutate
A new form of a pathogen is made called a mutation
What happens to the spread of disease is pathogens mutate and why?
It increases because very little people are immune to the mutated pathogen
What is a disease that spreads fast within a country called?
An epidemic
What is a disease that spreads across the world called?
A pandemic
What is MRSA?
A ‘super bug’ bacterium that has evolved through natural selection and has become resistant to common antibiotics
What do mutations of pathogens produce?
New strains of a disease
How does natural selection in bacteria occur?
Antibiotics only kill non-resistant strains of pathogens, so the resistant bacteria reproduce and the whole population of a resistant strain develops.
What should antibiotics not be used for and why?
Mild infections in order to slow down the rate of the development of resistant strains
