Advanced Math & Science Academy HEALTH CURRICULUM Topic #11. Infectious Diseases
DO NOW:
List any infectious diseases you have had.
List any diseases against which you have been vaccinated.
If you cannot make out these lists, talk to
(a) your parents,
(b) your family doctor.
VOCABULARY
Disease: any process or condition that threatens
or diminishes health.
Acute / Chronic: An acute condition is one
that usually lasts days or weeks only, after which you either die
or recover. A chronic condition is one that usually
lasts years or decades or all your life, during which time you may
die from something else.
Congenital / Acquired: A congenital condition
is one that you were born with. An acquired condition
is one that you get from something in your environmental surroundings.
Infection: A disease that spreads from one individual
to another. All infections are acquired, and most are acute.
Pathogen: An infectious agent. Pathogens can be
viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoans, or parasitic worms.
Host: An organism in which (or on which) a pathogen lives.
Vector: An animal species (often an insect) that can
transmit a pathogen.
INFECTIOUS DISEASES:
Infections are diseases that spread from one individual to another.
Infectious diseases are acquired and are usually acute; if you
don't die, you recover.
Infectious diseases are spread by pathogens.
Pathogens can spread by various means:
airborne
water-borne
by casual contact (touching, etc.)
by sexual contact
by vectors
Medicine versus Public Health
Medicine treats one patient at a time, usually after they
are already sick.
Public health deals with large populations, implementing
measures that help hundreds or thousands of people at a time,
usually before they get sick.
An important branch of public health is epidemiology,
the study of diseases in large populations. The findings of
epidemiology may be used in both medicine and public health.
LIST OF SOME IMPORTANT DISEASES
ONLINE: Click here.
PAPER VERSION: Turn the page over.
DISEASE PREVENTION AND CONTROL:
Education
Clear water, good plumbing and sanitation
Control of sneezes and coughs
Hand washing
Surface disinfection
Control of vectors
Vaccination
TREATMENTS:
Cureversus long-term management
Many medicines exist for specific diseases.
Some medicines kill or weaken pathogens.
Some medicines treat symptoms only.
AntibioticsIMPORTANT: Once you start taking them,
you must finish the complete course, even if you feel all better!
Rest
Good nutrition
Fevers and their treatment
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT / DISCUSS WITH YOUR PARENTS
Make a list of infectious diseases you have had.
Make another list of vaccinations you have had, and when.
Make sure that your parents and your family doctor both have
complete and up-to-date records.
