Topic 3 - Infection & response

• Communicable diseases


  Can be spread from person to person
• What are pathogens and how can they be spread?

  they are microorganisms that cause infectious disease and can be spread through direct contact, water or air
• viruses

  • very small
  • they move into cells and use the biochemistry of it to make many copies of itself which leads to the cell bursting and realising all th e clipped into the bloodstream
  • the damage and destruction of the cells is what makes you feel ill
• bacteria


  Small

  they multiply very quickly through divicing through binary fission

  they produce toxic that damage cells
• Protists


  Some are parasitic meaning they use humans a and animals as their hosts live inside and pot which causes damage
• Fungi


  Can either be single celled or have a body mode of hyphae

  Can produce spots which can be spread to other organisms
• Ways pathogens are spread in detail

  1. Direct contact: touching contaminated surfaces, missing, contact with bodily fluids, skin to skin, micrograms from faeces and infected plant material left in fields
  2. Water: drinking or coming into contact with diffy water
  3. Air: pathogens can be carried in the air and breathed in
• Limiting the spread of pathogens


  Improving hygiene: hand washing, using disinfectants, isolating raw meat, using tissues when sneezing

  Removing vectors: using pesticides or insecticides and removing their habitat

  Reducing contact with infected individuals

  Vaccination
• Viral diseases

  They are particularly dangerous as can enter all types of cells, and scientists are yet to develop medicines to cure them.