5.3 Preventing infection Flashcards
Give three examples of things people can do to reduce the spread of pathogens to lower the risk of diseases.
. wiping work surfaces with disinfectant • cleaning toilets • keeping raw meat away from food eaten uncooked • using tissues to blow nose • washing hands before handling food
How does using tissues help prevent the spread of disease?
contains pathogen-filled mucus for disposal,
How does wiping work surfaces with disinfectant help prevent the spread of disease?
destroys microorganisms present after preparing raw food
How does cleaning toilets help prevent the spread of disease?
destroys bacteria from faecal material,
How does keeping raw meat away from food eaten uncooked help prevent the spread of disease?
prevents spread of pathogens that will not later be destroyed by cooking, allowing the pathogens into the gut,
How does washing hands before handling food help prevent the spread of disease?
prevents spread of pathogens onto food.
Suggest why other doctors were so resistant to Semmelweis’s ideas that doctors should wash their hands before delivering babies.
Pathogens are very small, so before development of microscopes people had no way of seeing bacteria or viruses.
Inability to see microorganisms made it very difficult to understand how diseases spread.
Evidence (e.g., improved hygiene reducing the deaths from childbed fever) was seen as challenging normal practice.
Difficult to convince people whose ideas are entrenched.
Need people prepared to take a chance (e.g., Pasteur, Lister).
Takes time for evidence of effectiveness of new idea to build up.
What did Louis Pasteur discover?
developed vaccine against anthrax and rabies
What did Joseph Lister discover?
using antiseptic chemicals to destroy pathogens before they caused infection in operating theatres
Can vaccine work for plants? why/why not
No because they don’t have an immune system
