B5) Communicable Diseases Flashcards
What are comunicable diseases?
Diseases caused by pathogens that are transferred from 1 person to another.
What are non-communicable diseases?
Diseases that cannot be transferred from 1 person to another.
What factors are there other than communicable and non-communicable diseases?
Diet. Stress. Life situations. Ethnic group. How many children you have.
How can health problems interact?
Viruses living in cell can trigger changes leading to cancers.
Immune system of body helps destroy pathogens + get better. If any defects in immune system, may not work effectively. May be result of genetic makeup, poor nutrition, or infections such as HIV/AIDS, means more likely to suffer from other communicable diseases.
Immune reactions initially caused by a pathogen, sometimes even like common cold, can trigger allergies to factors in environment. Allergies may cause skin rashes, hives or asthma.
Physical + mental health closely linked: severe physical ill health can lead to depression + other mental illness.
Malnutrition: often linked to health problems including deficiency diseases, weakened immune system, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, + cancer.
How do pathogens cause disease?
Bacteria divide rapidly by splitting in 2 (called binary fission). May produce toxins(poisons) that affect body + make you feel ill, sometimes directly damage cells.
Viruses take over cells of body. Live + reproduce inside cells, damaging + destroying them.
How are pathogens spread?
Air: many pathogens (bacteria, viruses, fungal spores(that cause plant disease)) carried + spread from 1 organism to another in air. Human diseases, droplet infection common. When ill expel tiny droplets full of pathogens from breathing system when cough, sneeze, or talk. Other people breathe in the droplets, among with pathogens contained, so pick up infection.
Direct contact: diseases spread by direct contact of an infected organism with healthy 1, tiny piece of infected plant material left in field can infect entire new crop. Animals can act as vectors of both plant + animal diseases by carrying pathogen between infected + uninfected individuals.
By water fungal spores carried in splashes of water often spread plant diseases.
What do you do to culture microorganisms?
Give them liquid or gel containing nutrients- culture medium. Contains carbohydrate as energy source, various minerals, nitrogen source so can make proteins, sometimes other chemicals. Most microorganisms also require warmth + oxygen to grow.
Hot agar gel poured into Petri dish. Left to cool + set, before adding microorganisms. Also can culture microorganisms in flask of sterile nutrient broth solution.
