Summary of Infectious Disease

Pathogen

Methods of
Transmission

Global
distribution
Reason?
(Pandemic?
Endemic?
Epidemic?)

Malaria
Plasmodium falciparum
P.vivax, P.ovale, P.malariae
P.Knowlesi
Insect: Female Anopheles mosquito
Placenta
Blood transfusion
Organ transplant
Contaminated syringe
Endemic Tropics&Sub-tropics
(P.falciparum)
World-wide (P.malariae)

Cholera
Vibrio cholerae

food-borne
water-borne
insect:flies

Endemic- Asia,Africa,
Latin America
Reason: Discharge of ship
sewage into sea
shellfish beds

Clinical features/
symtopms

fever(black water fever),

anaemia,nausea,headache,
muscle pain,shivering,
sweating,enlarged spleen,
jaundice

severe diarrhoea, dehydration,

weakness,septic
shock,vomiting,convulsion

Method of
diagnosis

-microscopical examination of blood

-dipsticktest for malaria
- ACT (artemisinin-based combination

microscopical analysis of
faeces

therapy)

TB
Mycobacterium
tuberculosis,
Mycobacterium bovis
airborne droplets
undercooked meat
unpasteurised milk

Pandemic
Reason: -overcrowded
-HIV pandemic
-M.bovis
present
in cattle
-drug-resistant
TB bacteria
racking cough, coughing
blood, chest pain,
shortness of breath,
fever, sweating, weight
loss, appetite
suppressed, emaciated
-microscopical
examination of sputum
for bacteria
- chest X-ray
-Tuberculin skin testing

HIV/ AIDS
HIV (human immunodeficiency virus)
= retrovirus
semen,vaginal fluids
infected blood
contaminated hypodermic syringes
placenta
breast milk
Pandemic

HIV infection:
flu-like symptom& symptomless
AIDS:
opportunistic infections
weight loss,sweating
diarrhoea,fever,dementia
Kaposis sarcoma
-testing blood,urine,saliva for the
presence of antibodies produced
against HIV

Target of
pathogen

Treatment

- Liver cells: mutiply red blood

cell: multiply,gametes formed,release
into blood plasma

small intestinemutiply
1st infection: lungs
2nd infection: lymphnode
secrete toxin choleragen,
bones
disrupt fxn of epithelium lining
gut

Anti-malarial drugs:
1. Quinine*
2.Chloroquine*
-inhibit protein synthesis
-prevent parasite to spread
3.Proguanil*
-inhibit sexual rprdction of P.
4.Mefloquine*
*prophylactic (preventative drugs)

Oral rehydration therapy

(ORT)
sltn of salt+glucose
intravenously
Antibiotics:
1.tetracycline
2.chloramphenical

isolation
Antibiotic:
1. Steptomycin
Drugs:
1. Isoniazid
2. Rifampicin

destroy T helper lymphocytes

*AIDS = collection of opportunistic
disease associated w
immunodeficiency caused by HIV ( X
disease!)
Drug therapy
=============
Notes:
Infections tht cn opportunistically
devlop to create AIDS caused by
fungi:
1. oral thrush (Candida albicans)
2. Pneumonia (Pneumocystis jiroveci)

Antibiotics:
1.doxycycline
2.artesunate(combine w meflo. to
treat p.falciparum)

Prevention/Cont
rol method

Reasons for
unsuccessful
eradication/

DDT
- no. of mosquitoes
- avoid being bitten - net
- spread oil on water surface
-Biological control:
1. Guppy fish feed on larvae
2. Bacillus Thuringiensis kill larvae,
x toxic to others
- in drug resistant forms of P.
- in proportion of cases caused by
P.faiciparum

- sewage treatment plant

-provision of clean piped water
-control of flies
-break transmission cycle
-travellers to be vaccinated

-BCG Vaccine (Bacillus

Calmette-Guerin)
-contact tracing
-cattle are destroyed
-milk is pasteurised
-DOTS

-public health measures

-condoms,femidoms, dental dams
-contact tracing
-needle-exchange schemes
-blood is screened&heated
-HAART (highly active anti-retroviral
therapy)

-no sewage treatment/clean

water
-lack of financial resources to

- x complete course of
drugs
-MDR-TB (multiple-

- government reluctant to introduce

contact tracing
infringement of personal freedom

resurgence

- difficulties in developing vaccines

- in number of epidemics(climatic
chg)
-migration

provide drainage/clean water

-inadequate cooking
-washing in contaminated
water

drug-resistant)
-XDR-TB (extensively
drug-resistant)

- difficulties in expense of reaching

the majority of population

Definitions
1
2
3
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5

Lateral Transmission
Vertical Transmission
Eradication
Virulence
Disease

Disease pass from one organism to another of the same species

Disease pass from parents to children
completely elimination of the disease occurring naturally
Ability of pathogen to cause disease
An abnormal condition affecting an organism, which reduces the effectiveness of the functions of the
organism

Infectious Disease

A disease caused by a pathogen that can be transmitted from one host organism to another

Non-infectious disease A disease with a cause other than a pathogen, including genetic disorders and lung cancer

Pathogen

A biological agent that causes disease. A pathogen causing human diseases will have, as part of its
structure,proteins that are different from those of the human host and are therefore antigens

Vaccination

the medical giving of material containing antigens, but with reduced or no ability to be pathogens, in
order to give long-term active immunity as a result of the production of memory cells.

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11
12
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Transmission cycle
Causative agents
Endemic
Epidemic
Pandemic

The way in which a pathogen passes from one host to another

Agent that causes the diseases
Condition which the diseases that are always in populations
Condition where there is a sudden increase in the number of people with a disease
Condition where there is an increase in the number of cases throughout a continent or across the world

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Mortality
Epidemiology

Death rate from different disease

Study of factors that contribute to appearance of a disease