Modern Mortality Regimes 1 : Control of Infectious Disease Flashcards
What has been the result of the progress in Infectious Disease control and treatment?
- better understanding of infectious disease epidemiology
- better understanding of infectious agents and human physiology
What are the 5 ranges of diseases?
- No disease= asymptomatic
- Mild = cough/fever
- Moderate = lung involvement
- Severe = more organ damage/hospitalised
- Fatal = will lead to death
List the two types of infectious agents.
- Non-living agents
- Living agents
Give examples of living agents.
Microbes which can be single-cell or multi-cellular.
When was the Bubonic Plague?
14th Century
Which bacteria was the Bubonic Plague caused by?
Yersinia pestis
What proportion of the European population was killed by the Bubonic Plague?
Just less than 25%
List two controls of infectious disease.
- Clean water
- Infrastructure
Which notable figures were killed by smallpox?
- Ramses V died 1157BC
- 1519 Hernan Cortes landed in Mexico and 3 million indigenous killed
- 1694 (Queen Mary of England dies aged 32)
Define ‘inoculation’.
Vaccination
In what year was smallpox fully eradicated?
1980
What is the difference between variolation and vaccination?
Variolation involves administering live viruses to develop immunity of the host while vaccination involves administering an attenuated virus in response to an infection.
How does vaccination work with acquired immunity?
Vaccine causes body to produce antibodies against the virus through the generation of memory B and T cells.
How do memory cells cause immunsation?
They induce memory without causing disease by mediating a secondary response on first contact.
Define ‘prophylactic’.
Intended to prevent disease.
What is prophylactic immunisation?
Introduces antigens into a person’s body to trigger immunisation. Occurs before the exposure.
What are the 4 criteria that must be met for a vaccine to be accepted?
- Effective
- Safe
- Stable
- Affordable
How is acquired immunisation established?
Established at the level of the individual either through natural infection with a pathogen or through immunisation with a vaccine.
Define ‘herd immunity’.
Indirect protection from infection conferred to susceptible individuals when a sufficiently large proportion of immune individuals exist in a population.
