Communicable diseases Flashcards
What is a pathogen?
A microorganism that can cause disease
What are the four types of pathogen?
- Bacteria
- Viruses
- Fungi
- Protists
Give three examples of viral diseases.
- HIV (which potentially leads to AIDS in humans)
- Measles (in humans)
- Tobacco mosaic virus (in plants)
Give two examples of bacterial diseases.
- Salmonella (in humans)
- Agrobacterium (in plants)
Give two examples of fungal diseases.
- Athlete’s foot (in humans)
- Rose black spot (in plants)
Give two examples of diseases caused by protists.
- Malaria (in humans)
- Downy mildew (in plants)
What is a communicable disease?
A disease caused by a pathogen that can be transmitted from one person to another
Name five ways that pathogens can be transmitted.
- Direct contact (e.g. sexual intercourse, shaking hands)
- Water
- Air (inhalation of droplets)
- Unhygienic food preparation
- Vector (an organism that spreads a disease)
What a viruses made up of?
- Short length of DNA
- A protein coat
How do viruses make new viral particles?
They replicate their DNA and protein coats inside of a host cell
Describe how tobacco mosaic virus affects plant growth.
- Destroys chloroplasts
- So less photosynthesis
- So less glucose is produced
Describe four ways that HIV can be spread.
- Unprotected sex
- Sharing needles
- Blood transfusions (using unscreened blood)
- From mother to baby
How can the spread of gonorrhoea be prevented?
- Abstain from vaginal, anal or oral sex
- Use a condom (or other barrier methods of contraception)
Describe three symptoms of gonorrhoea.
- Burning pain when urinating
- Thick yellow/green discharge from vagina or penis
- If untreated, can result in infertility
How is malaria spread?
Through mosquitos, an insect vector, which carry the Plasmodium protist.
They suck the blood of an infected person, then spread the disease through sucking the blood of an uninfected person.