Essay on Disease and Prevention Notes

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Communicable Diseases the word "communicable" means that it can be spread from person to person.
"Communicable" illnesses can also be described as "infectious" illnesses because they are caused by organisms that enter and multiply within the human body.
There are four ways that a communicable pathogen (the actual disease-causing agent,
e.g., germ) can be spread (also referred to as transmission):

1. air-borne: the pathogen is spread through the air
2. blood-borne: the pathogen is spread through contact with an infected person's blood
3. direct contact: the pathogen is spread through contact with the bodily fluids
(other than blood) of an infected person (e.g., saliva, vaginal secretions, semen, etc.)
4. vector transmission: a vector of some sort (e.g., a mosquito or other living creature) spreads the pathogen from one person to another
There are five types of communicable pathogens: bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, and parasitic worms. On the following slides are basic definitions, examples of illnesses caused by these particular communicable pathogens, and proactive (preventive) and reactive
(treatment) options.

BACTERIA
Definition: One-celled microscopic organisms

Did you know that a single grain of soil can contain over 100 million bacteria organisms?
Examples:

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Meningitis
Conjunctivitis
Pharyngitis (sore throat)
Strep throat
Bronchitis
Pneumonia - a serious inflammation of the lungs, deadly to many annually
Toxic shock syndrome
Syphilis
Gonorrhea
Tuberculosis

In general, infection of any tissue or organ (any word ending in the suffix "-itis") means "bacterial infection of"
Treatment options:

● Antibiotic treatment. A word of caution: we have begun to use antibiotics too freely and certain bacteria have become resistant to certain antibiotics now. Similarly, antibiotic resistance is also resulting from many people

discontinuing a prescribed antibiotic when they begin to feel better (but the prescriptive period of time isn't complete yet).

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VIRUSES
Definition:The smallest of the pathogens that require living cells for survival and reproduction (e.g., true parasites!)
Examples:

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HIV/AIDS
Mononucleosis, sometimes referred to as the "kissing disease"
The flu, cold
Herpes
Gastrointestinal upsets
Measles
Chickenpox
Mumps

Rubella - causes only minor infection in children but can have serious consequences for a fetus!
● Smallpox
● Polio
Treatment options:

● Proactive (immunizations/ vaccinations)
● OR let it run its course and be patient (over-the-counter medicines will make you feel better while you're sick but they will not make you get well any quicker!) ●

FUNGI
Definition: Simple organisms that cannot make their own food
Examples:

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Candidiasis (yeast infections)
Thrush
Athlete's foot
"Jock itch" ringworm (disease of the scalp)

Treatment options:

● topical creams
● sprays

PROTOZOA

Definition: Microscopic, single-celled animals, larger than bacteria and have a more complex cellular structure
Examples:

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Malaria
African sleeping sickness
Amoebic dysentery
Trichomoniasis (vaginal infection)

Very common in Asia, Africa, and South America
Prevention: don't drink unclean water, basic sanitation practices

PARASITES
Description:organisms that live in or on another organism and derive nourishment from it
Examples of parasitic worms:

● Flukes (infect liver, intestines, and lungs and can be deadly in large numbers) ● Tapeworms (live in the intestines)

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● Roundworms (infect the intestines, muscles, and fluids under the skin)
Prevention: careful attention to hygiene and not eating/drinking food or drink that could be contaminated or not cooked thoroughly

**We don't catch colds from being outside when it's cold! You can go outside in 20 degree weather with no shoes on and your hair completely drenched and not necessarily "catch a cold!" Germs don't pick on people in such conditions!
You "catch a cold" from being infected by the cold germ/pathogen - NOT
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