Infectious Disease in Humans

• A diagram explaining how diseases can be spread, treated, and prevented, including how antibiotics work and how bacteria can become resistant to them

  
• Infectious diseases can be spread from person to person, caused by pathogens like bacteria and viruses, through body fluids, food, and water
• Examples of infectious diseases: Influenza, HIV, Pneumococcal disease
• Non-infectious diseases cannot be spread from person to person, are not caused by pathogens, and can be inherited or caused by factors like malnutrition, environment, and lifestyle changes
• Modes of disease transmission include droplets in the air, direct contact, and contaminated food and water
• Influenza (Flu) is caused by the Influenza virus, transmitted by droplet infection, with symptoms like high fever, headache, cough, and sore throat
• Methods to reduce influenza transmission include getting vaccinated and avoiding close contact
• Antibiotics target bacteria by preventing synthesis of cellular structures but are ineffective against viruses due to structural and reproductive differences
• Misuse and overuse of antibiotics can accelerate the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria
• Diseases can be transmitted through methods like direct contact, exchange of fluids, contamination, airborne transmission, and vectors

  
• Influenza virus symptoms include high fever, headache, stuffy nose, cough, sore throat, and muscle aches

  
• Methods to reduce influenza transmission include getting vaccinated, avoiding close contact with infected persons, wearing a surgical mask, washing hands, avoiding touching eyes/nose/mouth, and taking prescribed antiviral medication
• Pneumococcal disease, caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, can lead to symptoms like high fever, headache, vomiting, cough, chest pain, and rapid breathing
• Vaccines contain agents that resemble pathogens, stimulating white blood cells to produce antibodies when the pathogen invades

  
• Antibiotics are drugs used to treat bacterial infections by killing or inhibiting the growth of bacteria
• Antibiotics work by weakening bacterial cell walls, inhibiting enzymes, preventing ribosomes from synthesizing proteins, and disrupting cell membranes
• Antibiotics are ineffective against viruses because they act on cell walls, cell membranes, and ribosomes, which viruses lack
• Bacteria develop resistance against antibiotics through exposure to antibiotics, reproduction of resistant bacteria, and further exposure leading to a larger population of resistant bacteria
• To reduce antibiotic resistance, it's important to avoid misusing or overusing antibiotics, complete the full course of antibiotics, and use antibiotics only when necessary