Infection and Response Flashcards
What are pathogens
Microorganisms that enter the body and cause disease
How do bacteria make you feel ill
Secreting toxins
How do viruses make you feel ill
Reproduce inside of your cells
Mass copy themselves
Burst the cell releasing the copies
How do protists make you feel ill
Transmitted through vectors into/ onto your cells
How do fungi make you feel ill
Spores which are absorbed by the body
Examples of ways pathogens can spread
Water
Air
Direct Contact
What is measles
A virus
Spread by droplets from a person’s sneeze/cough
It can be very serious, causing rashes and sometimes inflammation of the brain
Most people are vaccinated against it as a child
What is HIV
A virus
Spread by sexual contact or sharing of blood. It causes flu-like symptoms for a few weeks and during this time it can be controlled with drugs
The virus attacks the immune cells
It lowers the body’s ability to cope with other pathogens
What is tobacco mosaic virus (TMV)
A virus that affects plants
It causes a mosaic pattern on the plant that discolours parts of the leaves
Therefore the plant’s ability to carry out photosynthesis is affected, stunting growth
What is rose black spot
A fungus
Causes purple/black spots to develop on the leaves of rose plants
The leaves can then turn yellow and then drop off
Less photosynthesis can happen then
It spreads through wind/water
Treated using fungicides or stripping affected leaves
What is malaria
A protist transported by a mosquito
It can cause repeating episodes of fever and the spread can be stopped by stopping mosquitos from breeding
What is salmonella
bacteria that causes food poisoning
the infected can suffer from fever, stomach cramps, vomiting and diarrhoea
you get it by eating food contaminated with the bacteria
in the UK most poultry is vaccinated
what is gonorrhoea
a STI caused by bacteria
caused by sexual contact
originally treated with an antibiotic by trickier now due to resistance
treated using antibiotics and barrier methods of contraception
how can the spread of disease be reduced/prevented
being hygienic
destroying vectors
isolating infected individuals
vaccination
Examples of your body’s defence system (not white blood cells)
skin as a barrier to pathogens
hair and mucus in nose trap particles that could contain pathogens
cilia which trap and waft mucus to the back of your throat
stomach produces HCl which can kill pathogens
What can phagocytes do
engulf and destroy pathogens - called phagocytosis
What can lymphocytes do
Produce antibodies that are specific to the antigen
Produce anti-toxins to the bacteria
How do vaccines work
Inject with a dead or inactive pathogen so that the body produces the antibodies that are specific to that virus and then if the body is infected again it will respond quicker
pros and cons of vaccines
pros:
help to control some diseases
herd immunity
cons:
don’t always work
side affects
what are painkillers and how are they different to antibiotics
drugs that reduce the symptoms
this is different to antibiotics which kill the bacteria
antibiotics don’t work on viruses!
how can bacteria mutate to become resistant
the non-resistant bacteria die and the resistant ones continue to live and multiply
eventually all the bacteria will be resistant
How to slow down the rate of development of resistant bacteria
not over-prescribe bacteria
finish course
what is aspirin and where did it originally come from
painkiller and found in willow
where did digitalis come from and what is it
used to treat heart conditions and found in foxgloves
