biology - 5f - challenges in treatment and control Flashcards
What is epidemiology?
The study of the outbreak and spread of infectious disease.
What is the herd immunity threshold?
The density of resistant hosts in the population required to prevent an epidemic.
What do vaccines contain?
Antigens that will elicit an immune response.
What makes it difficult to find drug compounds that only target the parasite?
The similarities between host and parasite metabolism.
Where does antigenic variation have to be reflected?
In the design of vaccines.
What can make it difficult to design vaccines?
Some parasites are difficult to culture in the laboratory.
Where can challenges arise?
Where parasites spread most rapidly as a result of overcrowding or tropical climates.
Where can overcrowding occur?
In refugee camps that result from war or natural disaster or rapidly growing cities in LEDCs.
What do these conditions do?
They make co-ordinated treatment and control programs difficult to achieve.
What may often be the only practical control strategy?
Civil engineering projects to improve sanitation combined with co-ordinated vector control.
What do improvements in parasite control do?
Reduce child mortality and result in population-wide improvements in child development and intelligence, as individuals have more resources for growth and development.
