COURSE INTRODUCTION

Question 1

What is Public Health? (2)

Answer 1

The prevention and management of diseases¹ through surveillance and health promotion²

Question 2

What are the 3 stages of the epidemiological transition (state what mortality and life expectancy was like too)?

Answer 2

1. Pestilence and famine: ⬆️ mortality and ⬇️ life expectancy
2. Receding pandemics:⬇️mortality and ⬆️ life expectancy and population growth is sustained
3. Degenerative and man-made diseases: ⬇️ mortality (more)

Question 3

What is the definition of Symbiosis (3)?

Answer 3

1. the relationship between two or more different species that live closely together.
2. There are several types or classes of symbiosis: mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism
3. Can have positive (beneficial) or negative (unfavourable to harmful) relations

Question 4

What is the definition of Commensalism?

Answer 4

One organism benefits and the other is neither harmed nor helped.

Question 5

What’s the definition of pathogenicity?

Answer 5

Ability of microorganism to multiply and grow within host, giving no benefits to the host

Question 6

What is the definition of pathogenic?

Answer 6

Capable of causing disease

Question 7

What the definition of non-pathogen and what are three examples of non-pathogens?

Answer 7

• They rarely or never cause human disease
• Lactobacillus acidophilus
• Bifidobacterium longum
• Erwinia caratavora

Question 8

What the definition of opportunistic pathogen and what are four examples of opportunistic pathogen?

Answer 8

• Don’t require a host and but can cause disease in an injured/ immunocompromised host
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa
• Burkholdaria cepacia
• Trichophyton mentagrophytes
• Escherichia coli.

Question 9

What the definition of obligate human pathogen and what are four examples of obligate human pathogen?

Answer 9

• MUST cause disease in humans to survive
• Smallpox virus
• Measles virus
• Rabies virus
• Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Question 10

What are the methodds of elimination of a pathogen(3)?

Answer 10

1. Physical removal e.g. sneezing
2. Starvation of nutrients = prevents growth
3. Killing of pathogen via immune response

Question 11

What are the methods of accumulation for a pathogen (3)?

Answer 11

• Adhesion to host tissues (specific/non-specific adhesion)
• Obtaining nutrients from host or other pathogens (leading to rapid growth)
• Proliferation in the body (survival)

Question 12

What affects human-pathogen interactions (2)?

Answer 12

• Host factors (e.g. health status and host immune response)
• Pathogen factors (e.g. mutation and virulence factors)

Question 13

What are the two modes of disease transmission?

Answer 13

1. Horizontal transmission (between members of a population)
2. Vertical transmission (from mother to child via breast milk, via birth, across placenta)

Question 14

What is epidemiology?

Answer 14

The study of the incidence, distribution and possible control of a disease.

Question 15

What is an endemic disease?

Answer 15

Endemic diseases are always present in a population in a given geographical area

Question 16

What is an epidemic disease?

Answer 16

Epidemic diseases show high incidence in a wider area, usually developing from an endemic focus

Question 17

What is a pandemic disease?

Answer 17

Pandemic diseases are dsitrubuted worldwide

Question 18

What are the different types of epidemics?

Answer 18

1. Common source epidemic – disease is spread from one source e.g. food or water (duration of one incubation period)
2. Host-to-host epidemic – disease continuously transmitted from infected (duration of multiple incubation periods)

Question 19

What is an incubation period?

Answer 19

The period between initial contact with an infectious agent and the onset of disease (=asymptomatic)

Question 20

What is a latent period?

Answer 20

Patient is not showing symptoms and is not infectious to others.

Question 21

What are the routes of entry and exit? (7)

Answer 21

1. Respiratory tract
2. Mouth
3. Conjuctiva
4. Skin
5. Anus
6. Alimentary tract (digestive tract)
7. Urinogenital tract

Question 22

How are pathogens transmitted between individuals (6)?

Answer 22

1. Respiratory/ salivary spread
2. Fecal-oral spread
3. Venereal spread (through sexual organs)
4. Vector (biting arthropod)
5. Vertebrate reservoir (from animals to humans)
6. Vector-vertebrate reservoir