Diseases: Causes and Control
Diseases and their Causes
Solved Examples
Medium
Example 1:
Can you explain the difference between a healthy and a disease-free state of the
human body?
Solution:
The state of not having any disease is not the same as being healthy. Good health is
the ability of an individual to realize his or her full potential. Consider, for example, an
athlete who is tired after running about hundred metres. The athlete cannot be called a
diseased person. However, he is not healthy either. Therefore, one can have poor
health without having any identifiable disease.
Types of Health
Personal Health and Community Health
Did You Know?
• The word ‘hygiene’ is derived from the Greek word ‘Hygieia’. In Greek mythology,
Hygieia is the goddess of health, cleanliness and sanitation.
Concept Builder
Personal hygiene
Here are certain healthy habits that we all must follow to maintain personal hygiene.
• Bathing regularly to remove sweat and dirt
• Washing hands before eating
• Keeping our nails clean
• Brushing teeth after every meal
Community or social hygiene
Here are some of the steps that need to be taken to ensure effective social hygiene.
• Making provisions for clean drinking water
• Making provisions for family welfare education
• Establishing healthcare services
• Making provisions for proper waste disposal and sanitation facilities
• Controlling diseases by providing vaccination, medical aid and medicines
Solved Examples
Medium
Example 2:
Why are social equality and harmony necessary for good personal health?
Solution:
Social equality and harmony are important for good personal health. Social equality
means equal access to education, hygienic environment, health facilities, etc. Social
harmony refers to the peaceful interactions between the various individuals and groups
constituting the society. Individual health prospers when conditions for social equality
and harmony are present. This in turn adds to the overall health and well-being of the
community.
Disease
Disease refers to any disorder of structure or structural function in an organism. Such
disorders produce specific signs and symptoms. Diseases are basically characterized
by disturbance in normal body functions. On the basis of time duration, diseases can be
classified as acute disease and chronic disease.
This is the reason why some people get diseases only for a short period and some
people suffer from a particular disease throughout their lifetime.
Did You Know?
According to WHO, chronic diseases are responsible for 60% of all deaths worldwide.
Causes of Disease
There can be a number of causes for disease. These are broadly divided
into immediate causes and contributory causes (as is shown in the figure).
Solved Examples
Medium
Example 3:
A number of children consume contaminated food and water. Yet, only some get
diarrhoea while the others remain disease-free. Why is this so?
Solution:
This happens because of the difference in the levels of immunity. A healthy body or a
well-nourished body is less likely to catch a disease when exposed to disease-causing
agents. This is because it has a strong immune system. On the other hand, a poorly
nourished body will easily become diseased due to its weak immune system.
Modes of Transmission of Diseases
Transmission of Diseases
We use various means of transport to travel from one place to another. In the same
way, pathogens causing infectious diseases also use certain means of transport (or to
be more specific, modes of transmission) such as air, food and water to enter the
bodies of living organisms.
Infectious diseases are caused by microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, etc. that
get into the body and cause problems. Some — but not all — infectious diseases
spread directly from one person to another. Such diseases are called communicable
diseases.
Diseases: Modes of Transmission
The modes of transmission of diseases are categorized as:
Pathways to Pathogens: Direct ways
Blood to blood contact: This type of contact is established −
• through blood transfusion
• by the use of contaminated needles
• during pregnancy (between the mother and the foetus)
Note: AIDS is a disease that spreads through sexual contact and also via blood to
blood contact.
Sexual contact: The sexual act involves close contact between two people. This may
lead to the transfer of diseases such as syphilis, gonorrhoea and AIDS. These diseases
are known as sexually transmitted diseases. Note that casual physical contact such as
handshaking, hugging and kissing do not lead to the transfer of these diseases.
Direct contact: Certain diseases spread when one comes in contact with the diseased
person or on using the articles used by him. Swine flu, athlete’s foot, ringworm,
conjunctivitis and German measles are diseases that spread in this manner.
Whiz Kid
Do you know why most newborn babies suffer from jaundice?
While in the womb, the foetus relies on RBCs for oxygen supply. After birth, these extra
RBCs get broken down and the liver changes the wastes into water-soluble products.
However, when this does not happen, the waste products (yellow in colour) attach to the
fatty tissues of the skin and brain of the baby.
This is one of the reasons why most newborn babies suffer from jaundice.
Pathways to Pathogens: Indirect ways
• Air: Disease-causing microorganisms can be expelled into air when a diseased
individual coughs, sneezes, talks, etc. The dust particles or water droplets present in air
carry these microorganisms to other people.
Diseases caused in this way are called airborne diseases. Common cold, chicken pox,
small pox, pneumonia, influenza and tuberculosis are examples of such diseases.
• Water and food: When the excretions from an infected person get mixed with drinking
water, the water becomes contaminated with disease-causing microorganisms.
Diseases are caused when this contaminated water is consumed by other individuals.
Such diseases are called waterborne diseases.
Any food prepared using this same water can also cause diseases when consumed.
These diseases are known as food-borne diseases.
Food and water can also be contaminated by various insects like mosquitoes,
houseflies, cockroaches, etc. Examples of such diseases include cholera, typhoid and
hepatitis A.
• Vectors: These are organisms that carry disease-causing microorganisms from an
infected person to others.
Though a vector carries pathogens, it itself is not infected by them. Diseases spread
through vectors are known as vector-borne diseases. Examples of such diseases
include malaria, filariasis, dengue, rabies and plague.
Bacterial Diseases
Some of the diseases caused by bacteria are:
Disease Causative organism Symptoms Diagnosis Prevention
and and and control
incubatio transmissi
n period on
Tuberculo Mycobacterium Weight loss, Droplet BCG vaccine,
sis (2-10 tuberculosis cough, fever, infection antibiotics
weeks) chest pain, and such as
breathlessne diagnosed streptomycin;
ss, sputum by chest X- patient should
containing ray be kept under
blood complete
isolation
Diphtheria Corynebacterium Sore throat, Droplet DPT vaccine;
(2-8 days) diphtheria skin ulcers infection patient should
be kept under
isolation
Whooping Bordetella pertussis Severe Droplet DPT vaccine
cough cough with infection
(Pertusis) whooping
(8 − 14 sound;
days) vomiting
Tetanus Clostridium tetani Muscular Through Tetanus
(4-21 spasms of cuts and Toxoid
days) mouth and open infection; and
neck region, wounds in whenever
convulsions the skin injured, tend
and death to the wound
due to lack of properly
oxygen
Cholera (0 Vibrio cholerae Inflammation Faecal Antibiotics
− 6 days) of gut, contaminat such as
severe es of water tetracycline
diarrhoea, and food and
abdominal chlorampheni
pain col, clean
characterise water supply,
d by ‘rice proper
water stools’ disposal of
waste
Typhoid Salmonella typhi Fever, Faecal Antibiotics
(1-3 abdominal contaminati such as
weeks) pain, on of food ampicillin and
diarrhoea, and water chlorampheni
vomiting, col, DPT
headache vaccine
Syphilis Treponema pallidum Pinhead or Through Avoiding
(14 -28 pea-sized sexual sexual contact
days) sores with contact with with infected
red centre infected person,
person
around sex penicillin
organs injection
Gonorrhoe Neisseria gonorrhoeae Burning Sexual Antibiotics
a (3-10 sensation contact with such as
days) during infected penicillin and
urination, person streptomycin;
feeling of ill avoiding
health, fever, sexual contact
headache with infected
person
Plague Yersinia pestis Fever, Through Antibiotics;
abdominal the bite of keeping the
pain, fleas that rodent
diarrhoea, have population
vomiting, previously under control
headache, fed on and isoloation
skin turning infected of the infected
black, animals like person
seizures, mice, rats,
general etc, through
weakness direct
contact with
an infected
person or
animal or
by eating
an infected
animal
Dysentry Shigella, Contaminat Antibiotics
Campylobacter and Salmo Abdominal ed food and and over-the-
nella cramps or water counter
pain, medication
nausea, which can
vomiting help relieve
fever of cramps;
100.4°F hygenically
(38°C) or cooked food
higher and clean
dehydration water
and severe
diarrhoea
with blood
Viral Diseases
What are Viruses?
Viruses are extremely small infectious agents, made up of nucleic acids and proteins.
Some specific characteristics exhibited by viruses are:
• They cannot live freely in nature. They require any living cell as host to carry out their
vital functions.
• They take over the cellular machinery of the host cell and use it to produce more
viruses. The host cell is usually killed in the process.
• The viruses can be cultured on living tissue in the laboratory. They can also be
crystallised and stored.
• Most of the viruses are highly specific for their hosts.
Viruses are responsible for variety of diseases in humans. Some of them are listed
below:
Diseases Causativ Mode of Symptoms Control Prevention
and e agent spread
incubation
period
Poliomyeliti Polio Droplet Fever, Oral polio Administratio
s (polio) (9- virus infection headache, vaccines n of polio
14 days) through faeces stiffness or vaccine to
and nasal paralysis of children
secretions limbs between 18-
24 months of
age
Mumps Mumps Droplet Swelling of Mumps Keep the
(12-26 virus infection parotid vaccine patient
days) (Paramyx salivary isolated;
o virus) glands, MMR
mainly in vaccine in
children children
Rabies (14 Rabies Bitten by rabid Headache, Rabies Cleaning of
days − virus dog nervousnes vaccine bite wound,
several s, fever, checking if
months) painful animal was
spasms, rabid, and
and fear of immunisatio
water n of pets
with anti-
rabies
vaccine
Influenza Myxoviru Droplet Fever, Influenza Keep mouth
(flu) (48 s (3 infection headache, vaccine and nose
hrs) strains) sore throat, covered
muscular while
aches sneezing;
keep away
from infected
persons
Measles Paramyx Droplet Sore throat, Measles MMR
(10 -12 o virus infection cough, vaccine vaccine at
days) fever, (MMR) the age of 9-
rashes in 15 months
the skin
Chicken Varicella Droplet Fever, Vaccination Single attack
pox (14-20 zoster infection headache, gives life
days) rashes, long
which later immunity
form crusts
on the skin
Common Rhinoviru Droplet Sneezing, Antibiotics Cover mouth
cold (1-3 s infection coughing, and nose
days) sore throat, while
infection of sneezing;
the upper adequate
respiratory rest
tract, fever,
chills,
headache,
nasal
secretions
Hepatitis B Hepatitis Blood borne Flu-like Hepatitis B Avoid fat and
(6 weeks − virus and though symptoms, vaccine protein rich
6 months) sexual contact jaundice, food on
nausea, infection; 3
loss of doses of
appetite vaccines and
one booster
dosage for
children for
1-3 months
of age
AIDS (28 HIV Sexually Fatigue, No cure Avoid sexual
months) (Human transmitted loss of contact with
Immuno through blood weight, dry unknown
Deficienc cough, oral persons;
y virus) rashes, screening of
headache, blood before
occurrence transfusion;
of cancers, avoid
and lung sharing of
infections needles
Dengue DEN-1,2 Fever, Fluids, pain Prevent the
virus Through the headache, releivers breeding of
bite of Aedes sore throat, and anti- mosquiotes;
aegyptii mosqui muscular inflammator keeping your
to aches, y drugs self covered
pains in eye and
socket and protected
decrease in from
platelet mosquito
count bites.
Swine flu H1N1 Fever, Antiviral Keep mouth
virus Through headache, medicines and nose
contact with sore throat, covered
infected muscular while
animals like aches sneezing;
pigs, bird keep away
droplings or the from infected
consumption persons;
meat of infected Keep the
animals or birds patient
isolated
Protozoan and Helminthes Diseases
Disease
and Causative Mode of
Symptoms Control Prevention
incubation agent spread
period
Avoid
Drugs such breeding of
as mosquitoes
Fever,
chloroquine, in your
Malaria (3 Plasmodiu Anopheles spp. chills,
primaquine, surrounding
Weeks) m spp. mosquito bite vomiting,
daraprim, s. Use
headache
and mosquito
mepacrine nets and
repellents.
Diarrhoea, Keep food
Amoebic
abdominal Drugs such away from
dysentery Entamoeb
Contaminated pain, stools as flies;
(Amoebiasi a
food with blood, metroindazo hygienic
s) (1-4 histolytica
nausea, le preparation
weeks)
vomiting of food
Drugs such
Loss of as Cleaning of
Faecal and soil appetite, mebendazol vegetables
Ascariasis
Ascaris contamination insufficienc e, pyrantel, and fruits
(10 − 40
spp. of food and y of pamoate, before
days)
water nutrients, and consumptio
jaundice piperazine n
citrate
Taenia
Taeniasis Eating raw or Diarrhoea, Proper
solium and Drugs such
(7 − 12 undercooked abdominal cooking of
Taenia as
weeks) beef and pork pain, beef and
saginata praziquantel
indigestion, pork;
nutritional and personal
deficiency niclosamide hygiene
Enlargeme Control of
nt of lymph vector by
Filariasis or nodes, using
By bite Diethyl
elephantias Wucherari swelling of insecticides
of Culex mosqui carbamazin
is (1 year a bancrofti limbs, pain, and
to e
or more) odema, maintaining
fever, and proper
headache hygiene
