Microbes And Diseases Flashcards
What is infection?
Infection is the time when a pathogen enters your body.
What is a microbe?
A microbe is any bacterium, virus or fungus that is microscopic.
What is a pathogen?
A pathogen is any microbe that causes disease to humans.
What are some ways that microbes can travel to the human body?
- air
- water
- food
- contact
- animals
Explain how microbes travel through air.
Droplets in the air
Explain how microbes could travel through water.
The water is contaminated by sewage.
Explain how microbes could travel through food.
Microbes can survive on food that has not been cooked/prepared/stored correctly.
Explain how microbes could travel through contact.
- blood transfusion
- sexually transmitted diseases (STD’s)
- touch
Explain how microbe could travel through animals. Give an example.
Some animals carry diseases:
- mosquitoes carry yellow fever or malaria
- tsetse flies carry sleeping sickness
- rabid dogs carry rabies
How could you control microbes that spread through air?
Use a tissue when you sneeze/cough and stay away from an infected person as much as possible.
How could you control microbes that spread through water?
Boiling water and ensuring that it has not come into contact with harmful materials e.g. sewage.
How could you control microbe that spread through food?
Cool it correctly, store it correctly, clean your hands and use clean utensils.
How could you control microbes that spread through contact?
Tests before blood transfusions, stay way from infected people.
How could you control microbes that spread through animals?
Stay away from animals that are infected or carry the disease.
