preventing and treating disease Flashcards
Where were drugs traditionally extracted from
Plants and microorganisms
What makes bacteria resistant to antibiotic drugs
Because bacteria can mutate
Who discovered penicillin
Alexander Fleming
What can antibiotics not be used for
To treat viral pathogens
What is vaccination used for
To immunise a large proportion of the population to prevent the spread of a pathogen
How does vaccination work
A small amount of dead or inactive form of the pathogen is injected into you
What is a double blind trial
Patience and scientists do not know who receives the new drug or placebo until the end of the trial, this avoids bias
What is a placebo
It looks identical to the new drug but doesn’t contain any active ingredients
What do clinical trials use
Healthy volunteers and patients
What has to happen to drugs
They have to be tested and tried before to check they are safe and effective
What three things are new drugs tested for
Efficiency toxicity and dose
What happens in the first infection by a pathogen
White blood cells detect pathogens in the vaccine antibodies are released into the blood
What happens in the re infection by the same pathogen
White blood cells detect pathogens antibodies and made much faster and in larger amounts
What is a clinical trial
They test potential new drugs on healthy and patient volunteers
