Infection and Response Flashcards
What are pathogens and what do they do?
They are microorganisms that cause diseases.
They can be bacteria, fungi, protists or viruses.
What is bacteria and what do they do?
They’re small cells that produce toxins to destroy your cells and tissues.
What are viruses and what do they do?
Viruses are pathogens that live inside your cells and replicate themselves. The cells will burst, releasing the new viruses, damaging your cells.
What is a protist and what do they do?
They’re single celled eukaryotes.
Some protists can be parasites which live on / inside of other organisms and then damaging them.
What is fungi and what does it do?
They’re single celled that have a body made of hyphae, which can grow and damage the skin and the surface of plants, causing diseases.
How can pathogens be spread?
Water Air Direct Contact Unhygienic Food Preparation Vector
What are measles?
A disease spread by droplets from an infected person’s sneeze or cough.
People with it develop a rash and a fever.
A vaccination for measles is given to babies.
What’s HIV?
HIV is a virus spread by sex or exchanging bodily fluids.
It can be controlled with antiretroviral drugs; they stop the virus from replicating.
The virus attacks the immune cells. The immune system becomes damaged and can’t fight off other infections, leading to AIDS.
What is tobacco mosaic virus (TMV)?
It’s a virus affecting plants.
It causes a mosaic pattern (discolouration) on the plant and the plant can longer carry out photosynthesis
What’s rose black spot?
A fungus that causes blue/purple spots on roses’ leaves. The leaves eventually turn yellow and die.
Less photosynthesis can be carried out, stunting its growth.
The fungal diseases spreads by water and air and can be treated with fungicides and taking off the infected leaves and destroying it.
What’s malaria?
It’s a disease caused by protists.
Malaria, the vector, picks up the protists from an infected person and spreads it to another by feeding on them. The protists travel through the blood vessels.
It causes episodes of fevers and be prevented by using insecticides and mosquito nets.
What’s salmonella?
A bacteria causing food poisoning.
The symptoms are fevers, cramps, vomiting and diarrhoea which are caused by the toxins the bacteria produces.
What’s gonorrhoea?
It’s a STI caused by bacteria.
It causes pain while peeing and thick yellow discharge
It could be treated with penicillin but strains of bacteria are becoming resistant to it.
How do you prevent the spread of diseases?
Be hygienic
Destroying Vectors
Isolating Infected Individuals
Vaccination
What are ways your body fight pathogens?
Skin - secretes antimicrobial substances that kill pathogens.
Nose - hair and mucus trap particles containing pathogens.
Trachea and Bronchi - secretes mucus to trap pathogens and the cilia moves the mucus to the back of the throat to be swallowed.
Stomach - produced hydrochloric acid to kill pathogens.
