Some modern Western scientific medical discoveries

Question 1

Disease

Answer 1

A type of illness or sickness

Question 2

Germ

Answer 2

A very small life form that causes diseases

Question 3

Experiment

Answer 3

Testing of an idea

Question 4

Microscope

Answer 4

An instrument used for observing very small objects

Question 5

Bacteria

Answer 5

Very small living things, some of which can cause illness

Question 6

Tuberculosis

Answer 6

TB = A serious disease that infects the lungs and is highly contagious

Question 7

Identify

Answer 7

Discover and name something

Question 8

Contagious

Answer 8

Spread easily from one person to another

Question 9

Smallpox

Answer 9

Deadly infectious disease

Question 10

Immune

Answer 10

When your body is able to fight off a particular infectious disease

Question 11

Vaccination

Answer 11

An injection given as a precaution against getting the disease

Question 12

Laboratory

Answer 12

A workplace where scientists do experiments•

Question 13

Penicillin

Answer 13

An antibiotic that stops germs from growing•

Question 14

Antibiotic

Answer 14

A drug that is used in medicine to kill bacteria and to cure infections

Question 15

The fight against infectious diseases

Germs, disease and the role of Louis Pasteur

Answer 15

• In the early 1900s, people in western Europe did not know what really caused physical diseases of the body. - Louis Pasteur was the scientist who first made the link between germs and disease.
• His experiments showed that germs make our bodies sick, and can cause infections and diseases.

Question 16

The germs that cause tuberculosis (TB) and the role of Robert Koch

Answer 16

• Many kinds of germs
• Harmful bacteria are germs that cause infections in the body
• Different bacteria cause different infections
• Long ago, people did not know which bacteria caused which disease
• Many people died from TB, which is a serious disease = affects lungs
• The next step in western medical history was to link a particular germ to a particular disease
• In 1882, Dr Robert Koch successfully identified the germ that causes TB. Very Contagious

Question 17

TB in South Africa today

Answer 17

• Today, TB can be cured by Western medicine.
• However, many people still die from TB because they do not get the correct medicine and treatment
• A person who has TB must take the medicine the doctor prescribes, every day, for as long as needed to get rid of the disease

Question 18

** Vaccination against smallpox and the role of EDWARD JENNER

Answer 18

• About 200 years ago, an infectious disease called smallpox killed thousands of people in Europe. - Smallpox causes a high temperature and sores full of pus to appear all over the body
• Smallpox has been called ‘the speckled monster’.
• Smallpox can spread to the heart, brain and lungs and once this has happened the person can die
• After careful observation and experiments, Edward Jenner discovered the vaccine for smallpox in 1796
• He had heard that women who milked cows often got a mild disease called cowpox, but they never got smallpox.
• Jenner took the pus from the sores of a woman who had cowpox
• He injected this pus into the arm of a healthy boy called James Phipps who was about eight-years-old
• James became sick with a temperature, lost his appetite and had a headache
• When he was better, Jenner injected James with smallpox.
• The experiment worked! James did not become sick with smallpox
• The cowpox had made him immune. Jenner called this a vaccination
• The word vacca is the Latin word for ‘cow’.
• Many people did not believe Jenner, and were suspicious of this new medicine
• They made fun of Jenner’s work.

Question 19

The first antibiotic and the role of Alexander Fleming

Answer 19

• Disease = caused by tiny germs = bacteria
• We have all seen mould growing on bread and cheese when it gets old
• While working in his laboratory one day, Alexander Fleming discovered that a common type of mould kills germs
• He used mould to make medicine called penicillin, the world’s first antibiotic.
• Penicillin was injected into soldiers during the World War II that was fought in Europe.
• The penicillin stopped the soldiers’ wounds from becoming infected with bacteria.

Question 20

Smallpox
Antibiotics
Germ that causes TB
First heart transplant

Answer 20

Edward Jenner
Alexander Fleming
Robert Koch
Dr Chris Barnard