Infectious Diseases Flashcards
What is a disease?
any condition that impairs the normal functioning of an organism
What are the two categories of diseases?
1) infectious
2) non-infectious
Which category of disease (infectious or non-infectious) has a causative agent?
infectious diseases
What is a pathogen?
a causative agent, or basically an organism that can cause a disease
Which category of disease is contagious?
infectious
What are three examples of infectious diseases?
- cold
- tetanus
- hair lice
What causes the common cold?
a virus (usually Rhinoviruses)
What causes tetanus?
bacteria (spores of the bacteria clostridium tetani)
What causes hair lice?
a small parasitic organism
What category of disease is caused by genetics, environmental influences, or cellular malfunctions?
non-infectious diseases
What are non-infectious diseases caused by? (3)
- genetics
- environmental influences
- cellular malfunction
What are infectious diseases caused by?
a causative agent, or an organism that can cause disease (pathogen)
What are 4 examples of a non-infectious disease?
- cystic fibrosis
- Down syndrome
- sunburn
- cancers
Cystic fibrosis and Down syndrome are examples of ______ non-infectious diseases.
GENETIC non-infectious disease
What causes sunburn?
excessive ENVIRONMENTAL exposure to the sun
What causes cancer?
uncontrolled CELL division aka uncontrolled mitosis
Usually _____ (a single/many) factor/s contribute/s to the development of an infectious disease?
many factors contribute to the development of an infectious disease
Give two examples of how multiple factors can cause an infectious disease?
- some people can have a GENETIC PREDISPOSITION to have CELLULAR MALFUNCTIONS (like the BRCA 1 gene for breast cancer)
- GENETIC PREDISPOSITION and ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS (like poor diet) can contribute to an individual developing