Communicable diseases

Question 1

What is a communicable disease ?

Answer 1

They are spread from person to person. They are infectious

Question 2

What are communicable diseases spread by?

Answer 2

Pathogens

Question 3

What are pathogens?

Answer 3

Microorganisms that cause infectious diseases

Question 4

What are 4 main pathogens?

Answer 4

Viruses, bacteria, fungi and protists

Question 5

How do bacteria make us ill ?

Answer 5

Bacteria reproduce very quickly.

They may produce toxins (poisons) that affect your body and make you feel ill.

Question 6

How do viruses make you ill ?

Answer 6

Viruses cannot reproduce themselves .

First the virus invades the host cell. Then the virus reproduces inside the host cell when the virus leaves it can cause the cell to burst open.

Question 7

What’s bigger bacteria or viruses ?

Answer 7

Bacteria

Question 8

What are The 4 main ways pathogens spread?

Answer 8

By air
Through direct contact
By water
By vectors e.g. mosquitoes

Question 9

What are 2 examples of pathogens being spread through the air ?

Answer 9

While you talk or if you sneeze

Question 10

What are 2 examples of how pathogens can spread through direct contact ?

Answer 10

Through sexual contact

Through cuts/blood

Question 11

What is an example of how pathogens can spread through water ?

Answer 11

Eating/drinking contaminated food/drink

Question 12

explain process of vaccination

Answer 12

• small quantities of dead or inactive forms of pathogen introduced into body
• this stimulates white blood cells to produce antibodies
• if same pathogen re-enters the body, white blood cells respond quickly to produce same antibodies, preventing infection

Question 13

What is an antigen?

Answer 13

a toxin or other foreign substance which induces an immune response in the body, especially the production of antibodies.

Question 14

What happens when the vaccine is put into your body?

Answer 14

The small amount of dead/inactive pathogen stimulates your white blood cells to produce the antibodies needed to fight the pathogen.

Question 15

What is an advantage of vaccination?

Answer 15

Help to control communicable diseases

Question 16

What is an disadvantage of vaccination?

Answer 16

Don’t always work and you can have a bad reaction to it

Question 17

What is antibiotics ?

Answer 17

Antibiotics are medicines that fight infections caused by bacteria in humans and animals by either killing the bacteria or making it difficult for the bacteria to grow

Question 18

What is Chemotherapy ?

Answer 18

Use of drugs to treat a disease

Question 19

Examples of antibiotics ?

Answer 19

Penicillin, tetracyclines, polymyxins and sulfa drugs

Question 20

Name an example of what antibiotics can and can’t kill ?

Answer 20

Can kill bacteria and fungi, but not viruses

Question 21

How do antibiotics kill ?

Answer 21

Antibiotics work by blocking vital processes in bacteria, killing the bacteria or stopping them from multiplying.

Question 22

Why an antibiotics not kill viruses?

Answer 22

Antibiotics cannot kill viruses because viruses have different structures and replicate in a different way than bacteria.

Question 23

Why must new medical drugs be tested before being used?

Answer 23

To check that they are safe for everyone

Question 24

What 3 things are new drugs tested for?

Answer 24

Toxicity
Efficacy - how well they do their job
Dosage

Question 25

How long can it take for a new medicine to be tested and reach your doctors surgery?

Answer 25

12 years

Question 26

Give 3 examples of things used to carry out preclinical tests on.

Answer 26

Cells Tissues Live animals

Question 27

Where are preclinical tests carried out?

Answer 27

In labs

Question 28

Who are involved in clinical trials?

Answer 28

Healthy volunteers and patients

Question 29

Why are clinical trials kept small to start with and patients are only given small dosage?

Answer 29

This is the first time when you test for side effects, so originally there could be some health risks

Question 30

What is a double blind trial

Answer 30

A blind trial is where people don't know which treatment they are getting. They could be one of the following: the new treatment. the standard treatment.

Question 31

What is a blind trial ?

Answer 31

Where the patient doesn't know if he's getting real drug or fake one but the doctor knows.

Question 32

What is a placebo?

Answer 32

A replica of the real drug but the placebo is a fake one that has no effect

Question 33

What are 4 stages of drug development ?

Answer 33

* Discovery and Development - Research for a new drug * Preclinical Research - Tested on animals like mouse * Clinical Research - tested on people to make sure they are safe * Review the drug - Check they are safe for everyone and if they will release or not