Science M.C.Q. [1 M]

Health is the presence of social, personal, physical and mental well being. It is due to presence of all attributes that makes a human being healthy.

Tetanus, also called lockjaw, is a serious infection caused by Clostridium tetani, this bacterium produces a toxin that affects the brain and nervous system, leading to stiffness in the muscles.

A swelling in the neck due to an enlarged thyroid gland is called a goitre.

The most common chronic condition is high blood pressure.

Infectious diseases are transmitted from person to person by direct or indirect contact. Certain types of viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi can all cause infectious disease. Malaria, measles, and respiratory illnesses are examples of infectious diseases.

The common cold is a viral infectious disease that infects the upper respiratory system. It is also known as acute viral rhinopharyngitis, or acute coryza. Being the most common infectious disease in humans, the cold is mainly caused by coronaviruses and rhinoviruses.

Streptomycin is derived from the actinobacterium Streptomyces griseus. It inhibits protein synthesis and causes the death of microbial cells. It is a useful broad-spectrum antibiotic.

Protozoan infections are parasitic diseases caused by organisms formerly classified in the Kingdom Protozoa. They include organisms classified in Amoebozoa, Excavata, and Chromalveolata.

Jaundice, also known as icterus, is a yellowish or greenish pigmentation of the skin and whites of the eyes due to high bilirubin levels. It affects liver.

Flies collect pathogens on their legs and mouths when females lay eggs on decomposing organic matter such as feces, garbage and animal corpses. House flies carry diseases on their legs and the small hairs that cover their bodies. It takes only a matter of seconds for them to transfer these pathogens to food or touched surfaces. Mature house flies also use saliva to liquefy solid food before feeding on it. During this process, they transfer the pathogens first collected by landing on offal. Diseases carried by house flies include typhoid, cholera and dysentery.

A congenital disorder, also known as a congenital disease, deformity, birth defect, or anomaly, is a condition existing at or before birth regardless of cause.

Typhoid fever is an acute illness associated with fever caused by the Salmonella typhi bacteria. It can also be caused by Salmonella paratyphi, a related bacterium that usually causes a less severe illness. The bacteria are deposited in water or food by a human carrier and are then spread to other people in the area.

Infectious diseases spread from one infected person to other normal person by various methods.

1. Air-borne diseases–For example: common cold, pneumonia and tuberculosis. Such disease causing microbes are spread throughout the air. The transmission of these microbes occurs through the little droplets coughed out by an infected person who sneezes or coughs. A person in the vicinity of such a person can inhale these disease causing microbes and may become infected.
2. Water-borne diseases–For example: Cholera, Infectious diseases can also spread through water. These occur when a stool from someone suffering from an infectious gut disease, such as cholera or amoebiasis, gets mixed with the drinking water used by people living nearby. The cholera-infested bacteria can enter new hosts through the water they drink and can cause disease in them.
3. Sexually-transmitted diseases–For example: Syphilis and AIDS. Both of these pathogens are transmitted by sexual contact from one partner to the other. However, such sexually transmitted diseases are not spread by casual physical contact.
4. Formite borne diseases–Articles coming in contact with the patients act as sources of infection. For example: door handles, taps, garments, utensils, crockery, etc.
5. Spread of disease through vectors: Many animals which live with us may carry diseases. These animals can transfer infecting agents from a sick person to another potential host. Thus, these animals act as intermediaries or vectors. For example–Female Anopheles mosquitos are vectors of disease, malaria.

A disease that is not contagious is called a noninfectious disease. These diseases are not caused by pathogens. Instead, they are likely to have causes such as lifestyle factors, environmental toxins, or gene mutations.

Human beings live in societies. Our social environment therefore plays an important role in our individual health. In villages, towns or cities, our physical environment is decided by our social environment.
For example: If there are heaps of garbage and trash littered here and there, or if there is open drain water lying stagnant around where we live, the possibility of poor health increases. So, public cleanliness is an important contribution to an individual’s health.
Some other community issues that influence health are:

• Community issues like child marriage can affect the health of the girl the baby born to an underage girl.
• Lack of education of the community to sex related issues can also cause sexually transmitted diseases.
• Bad treatment with the underprivileged sections of the society can also cause mental problems.

Social equality and harmonious relationships among our population are necessary for the individual health. Thus, we see that there is an overlap of personal and community issues for health.

Depending upon the type of disease, the symptoms can be one or all of them in chronic disease.

There are many ways a communicable disease can spread. It can spread through exchange of body fluids like blood, tattoos or direct or indirect contact like skin, mouth, nose cough or cold.

It is the availability of clean drinking water that is important and considered as public hygiene. Clean drinking water leads to well being of individuals and society at large.

The term harelip is usually perceived as insulting because it compares the deformity in humans to the normal cleft lip of a hare. The accepted term for this medical condition is cleft lip.

Symptoms of typhoid include high fever, headache, stomach pain, weakness, vomiting and loose stools.