1. 1 Bacteria come in 3 main shapes; spherical which are known as Cocci, rod shaped which are known as Bacilli are vibro, spiral which is known as spirochetes. Bacteria are found in everything for example; soil, water, animals, plants and radioactive waste. The only place they are not found is where humans have sterilised. They can cause illness like tuberculosis, tonsillitis and laryngitis and food poisoning. Virus is a toxin of poison. It is a macroscopic organism consisting of genetic material. They cannot reproduce without a host cell.
When it gets this host cell, it takes over its functions. The cells then continue to reproduce more and more viral protein. Several human diseases are caused by the viruses which include; small pox, measles, the common cold, chicken pox, hepatitis, HIV, cold sores and shingle. Viruses can spread from person to person and by exchange of saliva, coughing and sneezing. Fungi are skin infection caused by dermatophytes and yeasts which are group of fungi that are normally harmless. When these grow excessively it causes symptoms and usually affects your skin because they live off the keratin.
The different fungi infections are athletes foot which is itchy flaky red skin, nail infections which can discolour or make the nail crumbly and the skin thicker, ring worms of the groin which can be passed from person to person by direct contact and ring worms of the body which are like red ring shape which are contagious and caught by direct contact. There are also other fungi’s like thrush, yeast infections. Fungi infections can also be caused by antibiotics, pregnancy, poorly controlled diabetes and a weak immune system. A parasite lives in close relationship with another organism, it host and it causes harm.
Viruses are common parasites, parasites have to be in its host to live, grow and multiply. Parasites can eat the protein coating on the nerves (the myelin sheath). This causes a disruption in the nerve signal from the brain. Microscopic parasites can get into your joints and eat the calcium linings of the bone; this can lead to excruciating arthritis. 1. 2 Bacteria: Salmonellosis, tuberculosis, MRSA, Coccidiosis, food poisoning, dysentery, bronchitis, ear infections, strep throat, tonsillitis, pneumonia, gonorrhoea, Chlamydia.
Viruses: Influenza, common cold, stomach flu, pneumonia ear infections HIV/AIDS, herpes, warts, dengue, West Nile Virus. Fungi: Valley fever, athlete’s foot, ring worms, yeast infections. Parasites: Worms, schistosomiasis, malaria, sleeping sickness (trypanosomiasis) leishmaniasisi. 1. 3 Infections: It means an invasion of the body by a foreign substance such as germs, microbes, parasites, etc. These invading germs can cause disease and even death in the host body. Colonisation: Colonisation of infection to the body is when the body is when the body is being invaded by disease, bacteria that can cause the body’s immune system to breakdown.
1. 4 Systematic infection means it’s in the blood stream and is spreading through the body. Septicaemia is an example of systemic infection, it is generally a more serious infection it can include infections like Lyme disease, AIDS or tuberculosis. It can also be a chest or urinary tract infection. Localised infection means the infection is restricted to one small area only. An infected cut or ulcer is an example of this. A localised infection can spread and become systemic, it can be cured with antibiotics. 1. 5 The three modes of transmission are airborne, droplet and contact.
If you do not follow standard precautions, infection will most likely spread. The poor practices that may lead to the spread of infection are not washing your hands before and after every task. *Not using PPE and not disposing it correctly *Unsafe use and disposal of sharps *Not cleaning the environment with antibacterial solutions and sprays *Not sterilizing any reusable medical equipment and instruments *Not covering the mouth when coughing or sneezing and not washing the hands afterwards *Not handling and disposing of waste properly and effectively *Mixing soiled linen with unsoiled linen
*Mixing work uniforms with clothes at home, wash separately at all times 2. 1 Micro-organisms need food to survive, they like high protein food to survive for example poultry and fish. Most micro-organisms need warmth and grow best at 20 to 40 degrees Celsius, they need moisture to multiply, and they also need air to multiply though some can do without air. Time, a single micro-organism becomes two every twenty minutes, this varies depending on the type of bacteria.
For example warm blooded animals pathogenic bacteria require a temperature of around 98 Fahrenheit a correct entry site and for the host to be susceptible to that type of bacteria. Thermo-phallic bacteria require extremely hot temperature to grow. Viruses require a healthy host cell in order to get its DNA/RNA replicated. Parasites require the host body to be healthy enough to sustain itself and the parasite. 2. 2 Infection is the invasion of the body by any of the various agents including bacteria, fungi, protozoan’s, viruses and worms and it’s reaction to them or their toxins.
(Infections are called subclinical until they perceptibly affect health when they become infectious diseases. Infection can be local for example an abscess, confined to one body system for example pneumonia in the lungs or generalised for example septicaemia. ) Infectious agents can enter the body by inhalation, ingestion, sexual transmission, passage to a foetus during pregnancy or birth wound contamination, animal bites or insect bites. The body responds with an attack on the invader by leukocytes, production of antibodies or antitoxins and often rise in temperature.
The antibodies may result in short term or lifelong immunity. Despite significant progress in preventing and treating infectious diseases, they remain a major cause of illnesses and death particularly in regions of poor sanitation, poor nutrition and overcrowding. 2. 3 Transmission may occur through several different mechanisms. Respiratory diseases and meningitis are commonly acquired by contact with aerosolized droplets, spread by sneezing, coughing, talking, kissing, or even singing. Gastrointestinal disease is often acquired by ingesting contaminated food and water.
Sexually transmitted diseases are acquired through contact with bodily fluids, generally as a result of sexual activity. Some infection agents may be spread as a result of contact with contaminated in animated object known as fomite, such as a coin passed from one person to the other. A housefly which lands on cow dung contaminating it is appendages with bacteria from the faeces and then lands on food prior to consumption. 2. 4 Infectious diseases also known as communicable disease, contagious diseases or transmissible diseases comprise clinically evident illness (i.e. characteristic medical signs or symptoms of disease) resulting from the infection.
Presence and growth of pathogenic biological agents in an individual host organism. In certain cases, infectious diseases may be asymptomatic for much of all of their course. Infectious pathogens include some viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, multicellular, parasites and aberrant proteins known as prions. These pathogens are the cause of disease epidemics in the sense that without the pathogen no infectious epidemic occurs.
Transmission of pathogens can occur in various ways including physical contact, contaminated food, bodily fluids, objects, airborne, inhalation or through vector organisms. Infectious diseases with more specialized routes of infections such as vector transmission or sexual transmission are usually regarded as contagious but do not require medical quarantine of victims. 2. 5 Infections are started by tiny bacterial or viral micro-organisms that have somehow found their way into your body. Most likely it came from an open sore or incision made by surgery.
When these micro-organisations get into your bloodstream or body they find cells to attach to. This happens with a lock and key type of connection that occurs between the surfaces of the infectious micro-organisms and your cells. Once there is a connection an infection can start via multiplication. For the infection to continue, the micro-organisms produce at a faster rate than the body’s immune system can handle or it produces at a static rate that makes an infection chronic. If your body is able to, it can fight off infections on it’s own and keep them from speading.