Biomedical Basis of Public Health Flashcards
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What is an infectious disease and how does it spread?
Infectious diseases are caused by pathogenic microorganisms:
Bacteria, viruses, parasites or fungi
Diseases can be spread, directly or indirectly, from one person to another.
What are the four main chronic illnesses?
-Cardiovascular diseases (like heart attacks and stroke)
-Cancers
-Chronic respiratory diseases (such as chronic obstructed
pulmonary disease and asthma)
-Diabetes
What is another term for an infectious disease?
Communicable disease
What are the most common infectious diseases?
- Hepatitis B (2 billion cases)
- Malaria (500 million cases)
- Hepatitis C (180 million cases)
- Dengue (50 million cases)
- Tuberculosis (8.6 million cases)
What are re-emerging infectious diseases and what are some of the most common ones?
Long+ well-known infectious agents that dropped in popularity, were no longer considered considered public health problems & are now showing upward trends in incidence or prevalence worldwide
- -Diptheria (7,321 cases)
- -Cholera (150,00 cases)
- -Human Plague (783 cases)
- -Dengue (390 million cases)
What is herd immunity?
- Immunization
- Natural infection
- For herd immunity to protect a population, more than 70% of the population needs to be immune.*
What is anti-microbial drug resistance? What are there causes and consequences?
Causes: -Wrong prescribing practices -Non-adherence by patients -Counterfeit drugs -Use of anti-infective drugs in animals & plants Consequences: -Prolonged hospital admissions -Higher death rates from infections -Requires more expensive, more toxic drugs Higher health care costs
How can human behavior cause emerging infections?
-Increased international travel (Influenza)
-Sexual activity
-Population growth & urbanization
-Climate & environmental change
Bioterrorism
What specifically about population and urbanization influences public health in a negative way?
- Growth of densely populated cities= substandard housing, unsafe water, poor sanitation, overcrowding, indoor air pollution
- Refugees & displaced persons
- Diarrheal & Intestinal parasitic diseases
How can climate and environmental changes increase the spread of disease?
-Deforestation forces animals into closer human contact
=Increased possibility for agents to breach species barrier between animals & humans (Lymes disease)
-El Nino triggers natural disasters & related outbreaks of infectious diseases (Malaria, Cholera)
-Global warming
Spread of Malaria, Dengue, Leishmaniasis, Filariasis
What is bioterrorism? What is the likeliest route?
-Possible deliberate release of infectious agents by dissident individuals or terrorist groups
(It is easy to produce, mass casualties, difficult to detect, widespread panic & civil disruption)
-Aerosol dissemination
Killer animals: Who has the leading impact?
- Mosquito
2. Human
What is a zoonotic disease?
Infectious diseases that can be naturally transmitted between animals (usually vertebrates) and humans
Ex: Lyme disease, rabies
What are some ways to deal with infectious diseases?
-Surveillance at national, regional, global level
*Epidemiological
*Laboratory
*Ecological
*Anthropological
-Investigation and early control measures
-Implement prevention measures
*Behavioral
*Political
*Environmental
*Monitoring,
evaluation
What are some issues with surveillance?
- Limited capacity in field epidemiology, laboratory diagnostic testing, rapid field investigations
- Inappropriate case definitions
- Delays in reporting, poor analysis of data and information at all levels
- No feedback to periphery
- Insufficient preparedness to control epidemics
- No evaluation
What does GORAN stand for? And what is its role?
- Global Outbreak Alert & Response Network
- Coordinated by WHO
- Mechanism for combating international disease outbreaks
- Ensure rapid deployment of technical assistance, contribute to long-term epidemic preparedness & capacity building
How do you contract Hep A?
Fecal/oral route
How do you contract Hep B?
Sex
How do you contract Hep C?
Blood hep
What is another word for a chronic disease?
A noncommunicable disease
What are the most common chronic diseases and how many people do they affect globally?
- Cancer
- Heart disease
- Stroke
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Diabetes
What is cardiovascular disease caused by? And what are the main cardiovascular diseases?
Caused by disease of the blood vessels (atherosclerosis) of the heart, usually as part of the process which affects blood vessels more generally
- Stroke and heart disease are the main cardiovascular diseases
- Stroke is the main cardiovascular disease in many east Asian countries
What is the most common type of diabetes?
Type 2
What is diabetes caused by?
a lack of insulin (a hormone), which controls blood glucose level an/or
an inability of the body’s tissues to respond properly to insulin (a state called insulin resistance)
