Chapter 12 - Communicable Diseases Flashcards
Communicable diseases
Disease can be passed on from one organism to another
Bacteria
➜ prokaryote
➜ rod shaped, spherical, comma shaped, spiralled, corkscrew
➜ produce toxins
Virus
➜ non living
➜ invades living body cells (the host)
➜ parasites
➜ takes over cell metabolism and causes cell to burst
Protist
➜ eukaryotic
➜ require a host - e.g mosquito
➜ digest and use cell contents as they reproduce
Fungi
➜ eukaryotic and multicellular
➜ prevent plants from photosynthesising
➜ reproduction causes many spores
➜ digest living cells
➜ e.g athletes foot and ringworm
Tuberculosis (mycobacterium tuberculosis) bacteria
➜ killing cells and tissue and phag in lungs
➜ lungs are most affected
➜ bacteria can be dormant due to it being inside a tubercles which is covered in thick waxy coat.
➜ when immune system is weakened bacteria will become active and destroy tissue slowly
Ring rot (sepedonicus) protist
➜ ring of decay in the vascular tissue of a potato tuber or tomato accompanied by leaf wilting
HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus) - virus
➜ attacks the immune system
➜ target T helper cells
➜ spread through bodily fluids
TMV virus
➜ causes mottling and discolouration of leaves
Malaria (Plasmodium falciparum) protist
➜ parasite in the blood that causes headache and fever and may progress to death
➜ caused by anopheles bite as the females are the ones that bite
Direct Contact
➜ kissing or any contact with bodily fluids
➜ skin to skin
➜ through faeces
Inoculation
➜ through a break in the skin
➜ animal bite
➜ sharing needles/puncture wounds
Ingestion
➜ contaminated food/drink
➜ uncooked food
Fomites
➜ inanimate objects
➜ bedding, socks etc etc
Droplet infection
➜ Coughing, sneezing, talking
➜ droplets may contain pathogen
Vectors
➜ transmits between hosts
➜ mosquitoes
➜ water
Factors affecting transmission of communicable diseases in animals
➜ poor nutrition
➜ overcrowding in living and working conditions
➜ compromised immune system (HIV/AIDS)
➜ poor disposal of waste (breeding site for vectors)
➜ climate change (tropical areas=more vectors)
➜ culture and infrastructure
Direct transmission (plants)
➜ Direct contact
Soil contamination (plants)
➜ infected plants can leave pathogens/reproductive spores in soil
➜ infect the next crop
Vectors (plants)
➜ wind - pathogen carried by wind
➜ water - pathogen carried by rivers/rain
➜ animals - as they feed it is carried
➜ humans - transmitted via clothes, hands, fomites, while transporting plants
Factors affecting the transmission of communicable diseases in plants
➜ planting variety of crop that are susceptible to disease
➜ overcrowding
➜ poor mineral nutrition
➜ damp warm conditions
➜ climate change - increased rainfall and wind = more transmission
Physical defences (plants)
➜ cellulose cell wall
➜ lignin thickening of cell walls
➜ waxy cuticles
➜ bark
➜ stomatal closure
➜ callose- blocks the flow in the sieve tube
Chemical defences
➜ insect repellent
➜ insecticides
➜ general toxins - chemicals made to be broken into cyanide compounds
➜ antifungal compounds
➜ antimicrobial compounds
➜ necrosis through intracellular enzymes
Non specific defences
➜ skin ➜ stomach acid
➜ mucous membranes ➜ mucus
➜ cilia
➜ Lysozymes
➜ eyelashes
➜ tears
➜ ear wax
Blood clotting
When there is a damaged blood vessel, platelets are activated by coming in contact with the collagen on the damaged blood vessel to secrete thromboplastin. This triggers a cascade of reactions leading to the common pathway, where thromboplastin, the enzyme, to associate with Ca^2+ as a cofactor to catalyse prothrombin to release thrombin. Thrombin is also an enzyme which catalyses fibrinogen into fibrin. Fibrin forms a network of fibres that trap the platelets and red blood cells to form a scab.
Extra: There is a release of clotting factors causing a secretion of prostaglandins such as serotonin, which constricts the damaged vessel.
Inflammatory response
➜ pain, heat, redness, swelling of tissue
➜ release histamines - increases permeability of blood vessels
➜ blood vessels leak fluid (antibodies, white blood cells and plasma leak out)
➜ this causes swelling and isolates any pathogens
➜ also causes vasodilation - increases blood flow - makes area hot and brings white blood cells to the area to fight off pathogens
Fevers
➜ when pathogen invades, hypothalamus makes temp go up
➜ specific immune system works better at higher temp
➜ pathogens reproduce below 37 degrees so prevents reproduction
Stages of Phagocytosis
➜ Pathogen produce chemical = attracts phagocytes
➜ Phago recognises protein on pathogen = response to non self organism
➜ Phago engulfs pathogen with the presence of opsonins and encloses it in a phagosome
➜ phagosome fuses with lysosome to form phagolysosome
➜ enzymes from lysosomes breaks down the pathogen
➜ phagocyte then presents pathogen’s antigens by attaching on surface to activate other immune system cells - acts as an antigen presenting cell APC (so other WBC know what to look out for)
T Lymphocytes - mature in thymus gland
➜ type of white blood cell
➜ T lymphs gain specific cell receptors called T cell receptors (TCRs)
➜ each T lymph has a different receptor on surface
➜ when receptor meets complimentary antigen, it binds to it, so each T lymph binds to diff antigen
➜ Macrophage and dendritic cells become APCs
➜ Once the correct T cell receptor is selected out of the different shapes it is activated. This is clonal selection.
➜ Selected T cell divides by mitosis to produce clones. This is clonal expansion.