Investigate procedures that can be employed to prevent the spread of disease
Investigate procedures that can be employed to prevent the spread of disease, including but not limited to: (ACSBL124)
- Hygiene practices
- Quarantine
- Vaccination, including passive and active immunity (ACSBL100, ACSBL123)
- Public health campaigns
- Use of pesticides
- Genetic engineering
Hygiene Practices:
- Good hygiene exercises are an effective way to slower the rate of spreading of contagious diseases and also helps in disease prevention.
- Some everyday hygiene habits should include:
- Washing your hands well after using the bathroom, before eating and preparing meals, after a good deal of hard work in the garden, after stroking your pets etc.
- Covering your mouth and nose with a tissue when you sneeze or cough, then dispose of it. If no tissue is handy, cough or sneeze into your elbow rather than into your hands. If hands are used to cover the mouth during sneezing or coughing, they should be washed well.
- In case of cuts and wounds, they should be washed well with clean water and treated with first aid to avoid infection. A doctor should be consulted for serious wounds.
- Healing wounds or blemishes should not be meddled with.
- Direct contact with napkins, tissues, handkerchiefs, or similar items that are used by others should be avoided and not shared.
- Fruits and vegetables should be washed before eating and raw meat should be cooked properly.
- Garbage should be disposed properly and covered.
Quarantine:
- In disease control, quarantine is a term used to refer separating and restricting the movement of people who were exposed to a contagious disease to see if they become sick.
- Quarantine methods help in decontaminating organisms from a disease and further exposure of a vector carrying the disease. In some cases, quarantining can eliminate vectors.
- Quarantine laws can prevent the entry of items that might be risky and thus prevent spread of that disease in case if someone is carrying it from another region. Such quarantine measures were adopted during the outbreak of Swine Flu (H1N1 virus) in 2009-2010.
Public Health Campaigns:
- Targeting a population and making them aware of the bad effects of certain behavioural consumable good such as tobacco, alcohol etc can be a good way to preventing probable diseases.
- Information regarding from what source a contagious disease is spread and how it can spread to other people can be provided to people who are not wary of these methods.
- Population based health programs can be conducted including screening of diseases, maternal and child health programmes, including screening and prevention of congenital malformations can be conducted.
- Health programs should also include family planning programs because overpopulation is also responsible for certain outbreaks because of unhygienic environment.
Use of pesticides:
- Pesticides can be used to eliminate insects, pests and other microbial agents that can cause diseases if consumed by humans and animals.
- Pesticides can also eliminate vectors that are carriers of diseases.
Genetic Engineering:
- Genetic Engineering methods can be used to immunize vectors giving them the ability to fight pathogens that they will eventually carry to another host. Anthony James, a distinguished professor in the departments of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics and Molecular Biology & Biochemistry at UCI, have conducted an experiment by putting human malaria parasites into a mouse and finding that the mouse immune system fought them off. James and his team were then able to use CRISPR-Cas9 to transfer that immunity to the mosquitoes. What they did was, they took the genes that the mouse was using to fight malaria, engineered them inside the mosquito so that it could use the same mechanism. In other words, James and his team added a part of a mouse’s immunity inside that of a vector.
- Engineering plants by adding pest resistant properties in them can help minimizing infections that are spread through food intake.
- Future possibilities might include using GMOs for management of wastes as well.
Extract from HSC Biology Stage 6 Syllabus. © 2017 Board of Studies NSW.
EasyBio > Infectious Disease > Prevention, Treatment and Control > Investigate procedures that can be employed to prevent the spread of disease
Investigate procedures that can be employed to prevent the spread of disease, including but not limited to: (ACSBL124)
- hygiene practices
- quarantine
- vaccination, including passive and active immunity (ACSBL100, ACSBL123)
- public health campaigns
- use of pesticides
- genetic engineering
Hygiene Practices:
- Good hygiene exercises are an effective way to slower the rate of spreading of contagious diseases and also helps in disease prevention.
- Some everyday hygiene habits should include:
- Washing your hands well after using the bathroom, before eating and preparing meals, after a good deal of hard work in the garden, after stroking your pets etc.
- Covering your mouth and nose with a tissue when you sneeze or cough, then dispose of it. If no tissue is handy, cough or sneeze into your elbow rather than into your hands. If hands are used to cover the mouth during sneezing or coughing, they should be washed well.
- In case of cuts and wounds, they should be washed well with clean water and treated with first aid to avoid infection. A doctor should be consulted for serious wounds.
- Healing wounds or blemishes should not be meddled with.
- Direct contact with napkins, tissues, handkerchiefs, or similar items that are used by others should be avoided and not shared.
- Fruits and vegetables should be washed before eating and raw meat should be cooked properly.
- Garbage should be disposed properly and covered.
Quarantine:
- In disease control, quarantine is a term used to refer separating and restricting the movement of people who were exposed to a contagious disease to see if they become sick.
- Quarantine methods help in decontaminating organisms from a disease and further exposure of a vector carrying the disease. In some cases, quarantining can eliminate vectors.
- Quarantine laws can prevent the entry of items that might be risky and thus prevent spread of that disease in case if someone is carrying it from another region. Such quarantine measures were adopted during the outbreak of Swine Flu (H1N1 virus) in 2009-2010.
Public Health Campaigns:
- Targeting a population and making them aware of the bad effects of certain behavioural consumable good such as tobacco, alcohol etc can be a good way to preventing probable diseases.
- Information regarding from what source a contagious disease is spread and how it can spread to other people can be provided to people who are not wary of these methods.
- Population based health programs can be conducted including screening of diseases, maternal and child health programmes, including screening and prevention of congenital malformations can be conducted.
- Health programs should also include family planning programs because overpopulation is also responsible for certain outbreaks because of unhygienic environment.
Use of pesticides:
- Pesticides can be used to eliminate insects, pests and other microbial agents that can cause diseases if consumed by humans and animals.
- Pesticides can also eliminate vectors that are carriers of diseases.
Genetic Engineering:
- Genetic Engineering methods can be used to immunize vectors giving them the ability to fight pathogens that they will eventually carry to another host. Anthony James, a distinguished professor in the departments of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics and Molecular Biology & Biochemistry at UCI, have conducted an experiment by putting human malaria parasites into a mouse and finding that the mouse immune system fought them off. James and his team were then able to use CRISPR-Cas9 to transfer that immunity to the mosquitoes. What they did was, they took the genes that the mouse was using to fight malaria, engineered them inside the mosquito so that it could use the same mechanism. In other words, James and his team added a part of a mouse’s immunity inside that of a vector.
- Engineering plants by adding pest resistant properties in them can help minimizing infections that are spread through food intake.
- Future possibilities might include using GMOs for management of wastes as well.
Extract from HSC Biology Stage 6 Syllabus. © 2017 Board of Studies NSW.