Communicable diseases, disease prevention and the immune system Flashcards
Define communicable disease
Can be passed from one organism to another between individuals of the same of different species
Define pathogen
Disease-causing microbes/microorganisms
Define disease vector
Any agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another organism
What can be a vector?
- Organisms
- Inanimate medium
Give two examples of an inanimate medium that can be a vector
- Water
- Dust particles
List the types of pathogen
- Bacteria
- Viruses
- Bacteriophages
- Protoctista (Protists)
- Fungi
How many bacteria are pathogenic?
A small number of thousands of bacterial species are pathogenic
Are bacteria eukaryotes?
No, their prokaryotes
How can you classify bacteria?
By shapes
What are the main types of bacteria?
- Spheres (cocci)
- Rods (bacilli)
- Spirals
Give three examples of sphere/cocci bacteria
- Diplococci
- Streptococci
- Tetrad
- Staphylococci
- Sarcina
Give three examples of rods/bacilli bacteria
- Chain of bacilli
- Flagellate rods
- Spore-former
Give three examples of spiral bacteria
- Vibrios
- Spirilla
- Spirochaetes
What is the cell wall structure of bacteria?
Two main types of cell wall that react differently to Gram staining
What are viruses?
Non-living infectious agents
How much smaller are viruses compared to bacteria?
50x
How many viruses are pathogenic?
All of them
What is the structure of a virus?
Basic structure of some genetic material (DNA or RNA) that is surrounded by protein
What are bacteriophages?
Viruses that attack bacteria
How do bacteriophages attack bacteria?
They take over the cell and use them to replicate, killing the bacteria in process
Are protoctista (protista) eukaryotic organisms?
Yes
How many protoctista (protista) are pathogenic?
A small percentage
What do protoctista (protista) cause?
Communicable disease in plants and animals
Protists that cause disease are…
Parasitic
What may protists need to transfer to their hosts?
Vectors
Give an example of diseases that are caused by protists
- Malaria
- Sleeping sickness