Communicable Diseases And

CHAPTER 9 /

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Communicable Diseases and

Effects on Health

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Name: Date:

Communicable diseases can spread quickly. Learn about the ways that diseases spread and how these diseases affect you.

How Spread / Sample Disease and Type of Pathogen that Causes It / Effects of Disease

Airborne
• commonly spread by coughing and sneezing
• first sites of infection are the nose, throat, and lungs / (a) common cold — virus
(b) influenza (flu) — virus
(c) inhalation anthrax — bacterium / (a) runny nose, sore throat, cough, low-grade fever
(b) fever, aches and pains, cold-like symptoms, extreme fatigue
(c) cold-like symptoms, severe breathing problems, usually fatal

Water-borne
• contaminated water
• disease often spreads through feces that contain bacteria
Feces from infected humans or animals can end up in the water system (for example, swimming pools, hot tubs, streams, ponds). / (a) dysentery — bacterium
(b) E. coli 0157 —bacterium
(c) Giardia (beaver fever) — protist / (a) severe cramps, diarrhea (often with blood and mucus), fever, vomiting
(b) cramps, bloody diarrhea, complications such as kidney failure
(c) nausea, low-grade fever or chills, gas, explosive diarrhea

CHAPTER 9 /

BLM 9–6

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Communicable Diseases and

Effects on Health (continued)

Carried in Food
• unsafe food handling
• improper methods used to preserve food
• improper storage of food / (a) botulism — bacterium
(b) salmonellosis — bacterium / (a) double vision; difficulty speaking, breathing, and swallowing
(b) fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea

Direct contact
• direct contact with an infected person or with materials handled by an infected person / (a) meningitis — bacterium and virus
(b) STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) — bacterium and virus
(c) chicken pox — virus / (a) severe headache, high fever, vomiting, neck stiffness, joint pain
(b) vary according to disease but often include sores, irregular discharge, itching
(c) high fever; itchy, red, pus-filled spots

Contact with a carrier
• human carriers carry disease but show no signs of disease
• direct or indirect contact with animal carriers (for example, saliva left in the body from a flea bite) / malaria — bacterium / fever, chills, headache, joint pain, repeated vomiting, coma
CHAPTER 9 /

BLM 9–6

INFORMATION HANDOUT /

Communicable Diseases and

Effects on Health (continued)

Contact through a wound
• disease enters the body through breaks in the skin / (a) tetanus — bacterium
(b) rabies — virus / (a) stiffness of the jaw muscles, which may be so severe that the jaws remain clamped shut
(b) headache, swelling of brain and central nervous system, paralysis, muscle spasms, fatal unless treatment starts before symptoms appear

CHAPTER 9 /

BLM 9–10

INFORMATION HANDOUT /

Non-communicable Diseases and

Effects on Health

Non-communicable diseases can result from four major factors: the environment, diet, lifestyle choices, or genetic disposition. This chart describes how each factor influences health, diseases that might result, and some of the effects of these diseases.

Factor / Disease / Effects
Environment — exposure to pollutants / (a) various cancers
(b) emphysema
(c) bronchitis
(d) allergies / (a) destroys healthy body cells
(b) affects ability to breathe (for example, shortness of breath), results in frequent coughing or wheezing
(c) inflamed and irritated airways in the lungs cause coughing with mucus, fever, and extreme tiredness
(d) various effects, including difficulties breathing
Diet — people with poor diets often suffer from high levels of sickness. Poor diets include:
• those high in fat and cholesterol
• those high in salt
• not eating enough / (a) heart disease
(b) high blood pressure
(c) malnutrition — essential nutrients missing from a diet / (a) restricted blood flow to the arteries supplying the heart, heart attack
(b) damages blood vessels
(c) increased number of infections
Lifestyle — poor lifestyle choices such as:
• smoking
• drugs and alcohol
• poor diet
• lack of exercise / (a) cancer
(b) liver diseases
(c) eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia
(d) obesity — being 10 percent or more over the ideal body weight for an individual’s height and bone structure / (a) destroys healthy body cells
(b) hardening of tissues, affects liver function
(c) increased number of infections, depletes body fluids and nutrients, may die of starvation
(d) strains heart function
Genetic — refers to characteristics inherited from birth parents / (a) Down syndrome
(b) muscular dystrophy
(c) cystic fibrosis / (a) extra genetic material changes the regular development of the body and brain
(b) progressive weakness, deterioration of muscles that control movement
(c) progressive disease of the body’s mucous glands, affects the respiratory and digestive systems in children and young adults