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Disease = Dis Ease = Disturbed Ease and there is a specific cause for this
discomfort.
Disease is any harmful change that interferes with the normal appearance, structure, or
function of the body or any of its parts.
Laboratory tests are done to confirm the presence and type of disease.
An Acute disease does not cause major A Chronic disease will cause major effects on
effects on general
general health health(Loss of weight, feeling tired all the time,
being short of breath)
An acute disease may affect a person for a A chronic disease may affect a person for years
few days or weeks
An acute disease will not cause drastic long A Chronic disease will cause drastic long term
term affects on the health of a person. affects on the health of a person.
(Prolonged general poor health)
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Causes of Diseases (These are just examples and are not to be generalized for every
disease.)
Other Examples:
• Staphylococci, a bacteria causes acne on skin
• Trypanosoma, a protozoan causes Sleeping Sickness.
• Leishmania, a protozoan causes Kala-azar.
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• However , the same drug may not work against a microbe belonging to a different
group.
How does the AIDS virus spread from a healthy person to a diseased person?
1. Sexual Contact, 2. Blood to Blood contact with infected people, 3. Infected mother to her baby
during pregnancy, 4. Infected mother to her baby through breast feeding.
Why do the female mosquitoes of a species, suck blood from warm blooded animals like human
beings?
Because the female mosquitoes need highly nutritious food in the form of blood, in order to lay mature
eggs.
Manifestation of the Disease(In what ways does the disease affects a person)
How does the Organ/ tissue likely to Symptoms of the Examples of
microbe enter the be targeted by the Disease Diseases
body microorganism
Through air via Lungs Sneezing , coughing Tuberculosis
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nose
Through Mouth Gut Lining or Liver Diarrhea etc. Typhoid,Jaundice
By Mosquitoes Liver, Red Blood Cells Shivering, fever, Malaria
Jaundice
By Mosquitoes Brain Headache, fever, Japanese
vomiting, fits, Encephalitis
unconsciousness
The above table shows some specific effects.
Severity of the Disease depends on no. of microbes in the body depends on the immune
system
Limitations to Principles of treatment for infectious diseases: 1) The body functions may
be damaged due to the disease and the patient may never recover completely. 2)
Treatment takes time and may cast a lot of money. 3) the infection may spread to other
people.
THAT IS WHY PREVENTION OF DISEASES IS BETTER THAN THEIR CURE
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Specific Methods of prevention-are disease specific
Immunisation ie Vaccination by which we can fool the immune system into developing
antibodies against a disease.By this method the body builds up ‘strength’ to fight
against a disease.
Questions:
1) Why is it difficult to make antiviral medicines?
2) What is HIV-AIDS? How does this disease spread from one person to another? List the symptoms of
this
disease. What are its general effects? How does a person suffering from AIDS die?
3) How was small pox eradicated?
4) Why are children living in many parts of India usually immune to Hepatitis –A?
5) Name five disease against which vaccines are available.
6) Comment on the following statement: ‘ Having a disease means preventing subsequent attacks of the
same”