LifeTime Wellness Quiz Flashcards
Caused by microorganisms. These are microscopic organisms, such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites. They can sometimes be caught from other people, the environment, from animal contact, or from insect bites.
Infectious Disease
Common Cold, E.Coli, small pox, HIV/AIDS, Influenza (Flu), Food Poisoning, Ring Worm, Pink Eye, Stomach Bug, Staph infection
Infectious Disease examples
Fever, diarrhea, fatigue, muscle aches
Symptoms of Infectious Disease
Many infectious diseases can be treated by antibiotics (specifically diseases caused by bacteria). Those caused by viruses can sometimes be treated by antiviral medications. Diseases caused by fungi can be treated by antifungals
Treatment for Infectious Disease
Epidemiologists use a tool to help understand infectious disease known as the epidemiologic triangle. Is the model for explaining the organism causing the disease and the conditions that allow it to reproduce and spread.
Epidemiological Triangle (Host, Agent, Environment)
“the who”
Host
“the what”
Agent
“the where”
Environment
Are single celled organisms. Bacteria have the tools to reproduce themselves, by themselves. They are larger than viruses (cannot see with the naked eye). They are filled with fluid and may have threadlike structures to move themselves, like a tail
Bacteria
May have a spiny outside layer, called the envelope. Viruses have a core of genetic material, but no way to reproduce it on their own. Viruses infect cells and take over their reproductive machinery to reproduce.
Virus
Are like plants made up of many cells. They are not called plants because they cannot produce their own food from soil and water. Instead, they live off animals, including people, and plants. Mushrooms and yeast are fungi
Fungi
Are organisms, usually humans or animals, which are exposed to and harbor a disease. Although the host may or may not know it has the disease or have any outward sign of illness, the disease does take lodging from the host. The “host” heading also includes symptoms of the disease. Different people may have different reactions to the same agent.
Host Definition
Is the favorable surroundings and conditions external to the host that cause or allow the disease to be transmitted. Some diseases live best in dirty water. Others survive in human blood. Still others, like E.Coli, thrive in warm temperatures but are killed by high heat. Other environment factors include the season of the year (in the U.S., the peak of the flu season is between November and March, for example).
Environment Definition
In the center of the Triangle is Time. Most infectious diseases have an incubation period the time between when the host is infected and when disease symptoms occur. Or, time may describe the duration of the illness or the amount of time a person can be sick before death or recovery occurs. Time also describes the period from an infection to the threshold of an epidemic for a population.
Time
Is a visual display of the onset of illness among cases associated with an outbreak.
The distribution of cases (y) over time (x)
General sense of the outbreak’s magnitude
Inferences about the outbreak’s pattern of spread
The most likely time period to exposure.
Epi Curve
