G C S E B I O L O G Y

INFECTION
& DISEASE
PAT H O G E N S & D I S E A S E
PREVENTION
• Communicable diseases have a range of causes (pathogens)
• Pathogens may be viruses, bacteria, protists and fungi; they are microorganisms that cause infectious disease
• They can infect both plants and animals
• Bacteria – reproduce rapidly and can affect the host by releasing toxins, these damage tissues and make
us feel unwell, (see Bacterial Diseases
• Viruses – need a host to survive and reproduce, (see Viral Diseases)
• Fungi – grow on living tissue, some are single-celled and others have a body made of hyphae, see
(Fungal Diseases)
• Protists – eukaryotic organisms some of them are parasitic, that live on or inside the host organism. They
are often transferred by vectors.
 HOW TO
PAT H O G E N S
SPREAD?
VIRUSES
• There are many common diseases caused by viruses; for example, the common cold and the flu are
caused by viruses
• Viruses do not fulfil the 7 life processes, therefore, they are not usually classified as living organisms
• Viruses do not have nuclei, organelles, or cytoplasm like cells do, and so they have no way to
monitor or create change in their internal environment
• Viruses reproduce rapidly by inserting their genetic material into host cells and creating new protein
capsules to build new viral particles
• Once many copies have been made, the host cell may burst open releasing the viral particles which
can go on to infect other cells
 MEASLES

• Measles is a highly contagious and a potentially

serious viral infectious disease that can be fatal if
complications arise

• Measles is most often seen in children – most young

children are vaccinated against it
HIV
• HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is a virus that can
eventually lead to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
(AIDS)
TOBACCO
MOSAIC VIRUS
• Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) was the first virus to be
isolated by scientists

• It is a widespread plant pathogen that infects about 150

species of plants including tomato plants and cucumbers
BACTERIA
• Bacterial pathogens are cells that can infect plants and animals, causing disease
• Not all bacteria are harmful (so not all bacteria are pathogens) – both the skin and large intestine, in
particular, are home to hundreds of different bacterial species that play a vital role in maintaining our health
• Bacteria on the skin act as competitors to harmful pathogens
• Bacteria in the large intestine digest substances we can’t in food (such as cellulose) and provide
essential nutrients (such sa Vitamin K)
• Bacterial pathogens produce toxins cause damage to cells and tissues directly
• In certain optimum conditions, some bacteria can reproduce rapidly (with the fastest being once every 20
minutes for some species of coli)
• Optimum conditions usually involve warmth, moisture and a supply of nutrients
BACTERIA
L GROWTH
CURVE
SALMONELLA
GONORRHOEA
FUNGI
• Few fungal diseases that affect humans, one example is athletes’ foot. This is spread by contact
with surfaces that have been touched by an infected person, such as shower room floors
• Often the fungus is unicellular, as in the case of yeast, but can have a body made up of thread-like
structures called hyphae
• The hyphae can grow and penetrate the surface of plants and animals causing infections
• The hyphae can produce spores, which can spread the infection to other organisms
• Fungal infections are more common in plants and can destroy a crop or plant
ROSE BLACK
SPOT
• Rose black spot is a fungal disease of plants where
purple or black spots develop on leaves, which often turn
yellow and drop early
• It affects the growth of the plant as photosynthesis is
reduced

• It is spread in the environment by water or wind

• Rose black spot can be treated by

using fungicides and/or removing and destroying the
affected leaves
PROTISTS
• Protists are a diverse group of eukaryotic and usually unicellular organisms
• Only a small number of protists are pathogenic, but the diseases they cause are often serious
• Often need a vector to transfer from one host to the next
MALARIA
• The pathogens that cause malaria are protists from the Plasmodium family (four species); they
have a complex life cycle but can infect red blood cells in humans
• The malarial protist has a life cycle that includes the mosquito as a vector
• Malaria causes recurrent episodes of fever and can be fatal in certain instances
• The spread of malaria is controlled by preventing the vectors, mosquitos, from breeding and by
using mosquito nets to avoid being bitten
 HOW IS
MALARIA
TRANSMITTED
MALARIA
HUMAN DEFENSE SYSTEMS
• The human body has a number of mechanisms that are the first line of defence against an
infection
• The non-specific defence systems of the human body against pathogens include:
• The skin
• The nose
• The trachea and bronchi
• The stomach
THE IMMUNE SYSTEM
• The immune system of the body is highly complex, with white blood cells being the main
component
• Once a pathogen has entered the body the role of the immune system is to prevent the infectious
organism from reproducing and to destroy it
• White blood cells help to defend against pathogens by:
• Phagocytosis
• Production of antibodies
• Production of antitoxins (these are special types of antibody)
PHAGOCYTOSIS
• Phagocytes engulf and digest pathogens, this can be
non-specific or helped by antibodies which
cause agglutination (clumping) of pathogens
• The phagocyte surrounds the pathogen and releases
enzymes to digest and break it down to destroy it
PRODUCTION OF ANTIBODIES
• Lymphocytes produce antibodies
• Antibodies are Y-shaped proteins – each individual has the potential to make millions of different
types of antibodies, each with a slightly different shape
• The aim of antibody production is to produce the antibody that is specific(complementary) to
the antigens on the surface of the pathogen
• This is a specific type of immune response as the antibodies produced are specific to each
pathogen’s antibodies
P R O D U C T I O N O F LY M P H O C Y T E S
• It can take a few days to make the antibodies that are specific to a pathogen and this may give the
pathogen causing the infection enough time to make you feel unwell (as its numbers in the body,
and consequently the damage caused by them, increases
• Memory cells are lymphocytes that remain in the body after an initial infection with a particular
pathogen; they produce the specific antibodies against its antigens so that if you get infected by
the same pathogen again in the future (and the antigens are the same) you
can produce antibodies much quicker against it before its numbers increase and it can cause
damage to the tissues of the body
PRODUCTION
OF TOXINS

• Some pathogens (usually bacteria)

can produce substances which act as
toxins which make you feel unwell

• Lymphocytes can produce antibodies

against these substances – in this
case, they are called antitoxins

• The antitoxins neutralise the effects

of the toxin
VA C C I N A T I O N
• Vaccination will prevent illness in an individual by providing artificial immunity
• Vaccination involves exposing an individual to the antigens of a pathogen in some form, triggering an immune response which results
in the formation of memory cells which can make antibodies against it
• If a vaccinated individual is infected with the pathogen, they can destroy it before they become infectious
• Consequently, vaccines reduce the likelihood that an infected individual will spread the pathogen they have been vaccinated against to
others
• If a large number of the population are vaccinated, it is unlikely that an unvaccinated individual will become infected with the pathogen
• This is the principle behind the idea of herd immunity
• There are three main scenarios with vaccination:
• There are no vaccinations and the disease spreads quickly
• Some of the population are vaccinated and the disease spreads to less people
• Most of the population are vaccinated and this prevents the spread
W O R L D W I D E VA C C I N A T I O N
• The role of the WHO is to monitor global diseases, they will track if a disease
is endemic, epidemic or pandemic
• The importance of vaccines cannot be underestimated:
• The number of people with measles worldwide is increasing even though there is a vaccine
• The increase is due to a drop in the vaccination rate globally – there was some controversy
over the MMR vaccine in 1998 and the number of vaccinations dropped significantly after
this
• Vaccines have reduced drastically the cases of diseases worldwide
 A D VA N TA G E S &
D I S A D VA N TA G E S
H O W D O VA C C I N E S W O R K ?
• Vaccination involves introducing small quantities of dead or inactive forms of a pathogen into the
body to stimulate the white blood cells to produce antibodies
• If the same pathogen re-enters the body the white blood cells respond quickly to produce the
correct antibodies, preventing infection
TYPES OF IMMUNITY
• There are two types of immunity:
• Active immunity that comes from the body creating antibodies to a disease either by
exposure to the disease (natural) or by vaccination (artificial)
• Passive immunity that comes from antibodies given to you from another organism, for
example in breast milk
• With the measles vaccine, for example, vaccination with a weakened form of the measles virus
results in the production of antibodies and memory cells
• When exposed to the virus naturally and infected, an individual can produce a higher
concentration of antibodies much more quickly to destroy it
A N T I B I O T I C S & PA I N K I L L E R S
• When treating a disease there are two types of medication that an individual can take:
• Medicines that treat the cause of the disease – antibiotics
• Medicines which treat the symptoms of the disease – eg. painkillers
• Antibiotics, such as penicillin, are medicines that help to cure bacterial disease by killing infective bacteria inside the
body
• The use of antibiotics has greatly reduced the deaths from infections in the last century
• Only certain antibiotics will work on certain diseases, however, so a doctor will prescribe different antibiotics
depending on the type of infection (see Culturing Microorganisms)
• It is important that specific bacteria should be treated by specific antibiotics that are known to work against them
• Antibiotics work by stopping bacteria cellular processes such as the production of the cell wall – they affect processes
usually only in bacteria so are not harmful to animal cells
• Penicillin was the first antibiotic to be discovered and is
widely used, although resistance is a problem

• Antibiotics will not work against viruses, as viruses

reproduce inside cells. It is difficult to develop drugs that
kill viruses without also damaging the body’s tissues

• Painkillers and other medicines are used to treat the

symptoms of disease but do not kill pathogens (eg.
ibuprofen can reduce pain and inflammation)
 • The use of antibiotics has
increased exponentially
since they were first
introduced in the 1930s

• In that time they have saved

millions of lives

A N T I B I O T I C R E S I S TA N C E
A N T I B I O T I C R E S I S TA N C E
• However, since their discovery and widespread use, antibiotics have
been overused and antibiotic resistance has developed in many different types of bacterial species
• Bacteria, like all organisms, have random mutations in their DNA
• One of these mutations may give them resistance to an antibiotic
• If an organism is infected with bacteria and some of them have resistance, they are likely to survive
treatment with antibiotic
• The population of the resistant bacteria will increase
• If the resistant strain is causing a serious infection then another antibiotic will be needed
• A strain of Staphylococcus aureus has developed resistance to a powerful antibiotic methicillin, this is
known as MRSA (Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus)
• MRSA can infect wounds and is difficult to treat without antibiotics
P R E V E N T I N G R E S I S TA N T
BACTERIA
• To reduce the number of bacteria that are becoming resistant to antibiotics:
• Doctors need to avoid the overuse of antibiotics, prescribing them only when needed – they
may test the bacteria first to make sure that they prescribe the correct antibiotic
• Antibiotics shouldn’t be used in non-serious infections that the immune system will ‘clear
up’
• Antibiotics shouldn’t be used for viral infections
• Patients need to finish the whole course of antibiotics so that all the bacteria are killed and
none are left to mutate to resistant strains
• Antibiotics use should be reduced in industries such as agriculture – controls are now in
place to limit their use in farming
REDUCING THE SPREAD OF
R E S I S TA N T S T R A I N S
• Good hygiene practices such as handwashing and the use of hand sanitisers have reduced the
rates of resistant strains of bacteria, such as MRSA, in hospitals
• The isolation of infected patients to prevent the spread of resistant strains, in particular in surgical
wards where MRSA can infect surgical wounds