Modern Mortality Regimes 1 : Control of Infectious Disease

Question 1

What has been the result of the progress in Infectious Disease control and treatment?

Answer 1

• better understanding of infectious disease epidemiology
• better understanding of infectious agents and human physiology

Question 2

What are the 5 ranges of diseases?

Answer 2

• No disease= asymptomatic
• Mild = cough/fever
• Moderate = lung involvement
• Severe = more organ damage/hospitalised
• Fatal = will lead to death

Question 3

List the two types of infectious agents.

Answer 3

• Non-living agents
• Living agents

Question 4

Give examples of living agents.

Answer 4

Microbes which can be single-cell or multi-cellular.

Question 5

When was the Bubonic Plague?

Answer 5

14th Century

Question 6

Which bacteria was the Bubonic Plague caused by?

Answer 6

Yersinia pestis

Question 7

What proportion of the European population was killed by the Bubonic Plague?

Answer 7

Just less than 25%

Question 8

List two controls of infectious disease.

Answer 8

• Clean water
• Infrastructure

Question 9

Which notable figures were killed by smallpox?

Answer 9

• Ramses V died 1157BC
• 1519 Hernan Cortes landed in Mexico and 3 million indigenous killed
• 1694 (Queen Mary of England dies aged 32)

Question 10

Define ‘inoculation’.

Answer 10

Vaccination

Question 11

In what year was smallpox fully eradicated?

Answer 11

1980

Question 12

What is the difference between variolation and vaccination?

Answer 12

Variolation involves administering live viruses to develop immunity of the host while vaccination involves administering an attenuated virus in response to an infection.

Question 13

How does vaccination work with acquired immunity?

Answer 13

Vaccine causes body to produce antibodies against the virus through the generation of memory B and T cells.

Question 14

How do memory cells cause immunsation?

Answer 14

They induce memory without causing disease by mediating a secondary response on first contact.

Question 15

Define ‘prophylactic’.

Answer 15

Intended to prevent disease.

Question 16

What is prophylactic immunisation?

Answer 16

Introduces antigens into a person’s body to trigger immunisation. Occurs before the exposure.

Question 17

What are the 4 criteria that must be met for a vaccine to be accepted?

Answer 17

• Effective
• Safe
• Stable
• Affordable

Question 18

How is acquired immunisation established?

Answer 18

Established at the level of the individual either through natural infection with a pathogen or through immunisation with a vaccine.

Question 19

Define ‘herd immunity’.

Answer 19

Indirect protection from infection conferred to susceptible individuals when a sufficiently large proportion of immune individuals exist in a population.