Vaccines And Medication To Treat Disease Flashcards
Give three ways white blood cells fight pathogens and their effects
- producing antitoxins
- producing antibodies
- ingesting pathogens
What is phagocytosis?
When white blood cells ingest pathogens and digest them using enzymes
What do vaccines contain?
Vaccines contain a small amount of dead or weakened pathogen particles
Why do vaccines contain weakened pathogen particles?
The virus or bacteria that causes the disease is weakened so it does not cause illness
How does the vaccine work?
It stimulates the production of antibodies+memory cells against the target pathogen without making the person ill
What happens if the vaccinated person is later affected by the same pathogen?
The memory cells can rapidly produce the right antibodies to destroy the pathogen before the symptoms are felt
What is inside a polio vaccine?
A dead or weakened form of the virus that causes polio
How does the polio vaccine work? (5 points)
1- the dead/ weakened form of the virus is injected into the body from vaccine
2- white blood cells recognise the antigens on the weakened virus as foreign and begin to make antibodies to fit the antigen
3- the virus particles are destroyed
4- the memory cells remember how to make the same antibody so that if the real virus enters the body they are able to make larger numbers of antibody much more quickly (prepared)
5- this allows the virus to be destroyed before symptoms are felt
What are three advantages of vaccinations?
- safe and cost effective way for preventing outbreaks of disease
- some diseases have already been completely eradicated
- if vaccination rates are high enough even non vaccinated people are protected (pathogens can no longer spread)
What is herd immunity?
When vaccination rates are high enough to protect even the un vaccinated people because the pathogens can no longer spread
What are the two types of medication and how are they different?
- over the counter medication= they treat the symptoms but do not kill the pathogens
- antibiotics= these act to kill pathogenic bacteria inside the body
Who discovered antibiotics?
Alexander Fleming
How do antibiotics work?
They work by killing the bacteria inside the body
How do we know which antibiotics to use? 2 points
- when someone has an infection, swabs can be taken+grown on an agar plate
- different antibiotics will be added+the one that prevents growth most effectively is prescribed
Describe the practical for testing for the right antibiotic (2 points)
- collect on agar plate
- carefully add one drop of each antibiotic into seperate wells using different pippetes
-add in alphabetical order+ use distilled water in F
-leave for 10 mins
Describe three problems of antibiotic use?
1- overuse= ppl prescribed antibiotics when not needed which gives rise to antibiotic resistance
2- some patients don’t finish the whole course antibiotics+ some pathogenic bacteria may survive (leads to antibiotic resistance)
3- excessive use in agriculture to keep animals well can lead to spread of antibiotic resistance bacteria from animals to humans
What is antibiotic resistance and why is this dangerous?
- When bacteria can mutate to become resistant to antibiotics
-the resistant bacteria will survive+ reproduce causing population of the resistant strain to increase
What is a consequence of antibiotic resistance?
Deadly bacterial infections that can’t be treated
Why us MRSA ( Methicillin- resistant- staphylococcus aureus) dangerous?
- causes serious wound infections
- the bacteria that causes this is resistant to the powerful antibiotic (methicillin)+ considered a super bug
How can we reduce antibiotic resistance? (4 points)
- only take antibiotics when necessary
- treat specific bacteria with specific antibiotics
- high hospital hygiene levels
- isolate patients who are infected with antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria
