Btec Level 3 Unit 12 P1

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Unit 12: Diseases and Infection
P3: explain how infectious diseases can be transmitted
Infectious diseases can be spread in many different ways, through direct or indirect contact. They can be spread these many ways;
Direct contact
Human to Human
Direct physical contact
The infections are passed on through sexual contact with an infected person. This could either be from genital to genital contact, oral to genital contact and genital to anal contact. Examples of these diseases are HIV/AIDS, Chlamydia, Syphilis and Gonorrhoea.
HIV/AIDS is spread from human to human by sexual contact. The symptoms of HIV/AIDS are flu like illness for around a few weeks but the symptom is noticed 4-6 weeks after the contraction of HIV. As soon as the symptoms
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If toxoplasmosis is caught by any of these people it could lead to damage to the eyes, brain and other organs.

Indirect contact
Airborne droplets (coughing and sneezing)
Vector
The disease occurs by an infected insect. E.g. fleas, lice, ticks and mosquitoes. These insects are usually bloodsucking insects, that suck the blood of an infected person then inject it in to the next person and infect them. The most common vector is the mosquito which transmits malaria.
Malaria is contracted when an infected mosquito (Anopheles) bites a host. The mosquitoes carry a parasite that infects the liver when passed into a human. This allows the parasite to grow and then be released back into the bloodstream. This is when they do most damage and infect the red blood cells. After about 2-3 days the parasites multiply in the red blood cells and then are released by bursting the cell.
Malaria is transmitted by the blood so can be transmitted through:
• The sharing of syringes with an infected person
• Organ donation by an infected person
• Blood transfusion
The symptoms that occur from malaria usually appear around four weeks after the mosquito bite. These symptoms consist of:
• High fever
• Chills
• Headache