Prevention Techniques For Infectious Disease

PREVENT ION TECHNIQUES FOR INFECT IOUS DISEASE Hygiene Practices ✓ It is important to wash your hands before eating as there can be harmful microbes on your hands which you can transfer to your food and into your system when contaminated food is consumed. ✓ Influenza can spread via direct and indirect contact last week. So, if you are sneezing or coughing, you should be covering your nose and mouth using a tissue to prevent the spread of water droplets containing the pathogen. The tissue should also be disposed appropriate to prevent the spread of pathogen. ✓ Water Cleanliness: Cholera is a disease transmitted via a water-borne bacterium called Vibrio cholerae. Tt is important ensure that the water consumed is free of pathogens prior to consumption to prevent and control the spread of disease such as cholera. appropriate treatment of sewerage water to prevent pollution of waterways as well as the treatment of water prior to supplying to households, shops, etc are necessary to prevent the spread of pathogens and disease. Quarantine Practices • • • • Quarantine practices can prevent and reduce the spread of infectious disease by preventing exposure to people, objects or animals that have the infectious pathogen or vectors of disease Practices include separation and isolation of people and animals’ and restriction of movements, surveillance and screening For example, during the international mad cow outbreak, Australia put a ban on imported cattle from all countries In COVID 19 Vaccinations (Passive and Active) • Vaccination confers immunity by switching on the host's own immune system to make the antibodies and memory cells needed to provide long-term protection against infection. Vaccinations have greatly reduced the prevalence of diseases and continue to be important for global health. The World Health Organization estimates that vaccination prevents an estimated two to three million deaths every year. • • • Active immunity comes about through having an infection and recovering from it or by getting vaccinated. Active immune response takes seven to 21 days to fully develop. Sometimes if an infection is overwhelming the immune system antibodies obtained from healthy blood donors are given to the patient. These can act much more quickly and provide immediate protection. This is called passive immunity A vaccine stimulates an individual's immune system to develop immunity to pathogens such as viruses and bacteria. The antigens used in a vaccine are designed to trigger a specific protective response by the immune system towards a particular pathogen and each vaccine therefore contains a different set of antigens. Immunisation means both receiving a vaccine and becoming immune to a disease postvaccination. The purpose of immunisation is to prevent people from acquiring infections and to protect them against the short- and longer-term complications of those infections. Longerterm complications can include illnesses such as cancer. Public Health Campaign • Effective public health campaigns convey key messages to large sections of a population, provide useful tools to promote health, and are increasingly important in the prevention and control of diseases. The success of a campaign is usually measured by the decrease in morbidity and mortality. • An example of a health campaign is the mass media, advertising and educational campaigns created by the Australian and state governments in 1987 to control the spread of HIV/AIDS. The governments used a series of graphic and imaginative television and radio commercials. The initial campaign, built around the image of the Grim Reaper, was intentionally controversial and designed to have the maximum impact on public opinion. The commercials were complemented by the publishing of a variety of printed materials about HIV/AIDS and steps to be taken to prevent transmission of the virus. HIV/AIDS community groups were also part of the campaigns, delivering condoms, clean needles and syringes to venues where unsafe practices were most likely to occur. Use of pesticides • Pesticides such as insect repellents are used to control vector transmitted diseases such as malaria and the Zika virus. Antimicrobial pesticides are used to kill avian influenza viruses and are used by the poultry industry; for example, to disinfect breeding facilities. Genetic Engineering • • • Genetic engineering such as using recombinant DNA technology to produce transgenic species is a popular measured used by farmers in preventing and controlling the spread of disease through a species population. However, the problem with the vectors (e.g., insects) developing resistance to the insecticides remain to be inevitable in the upcoming future. To fight dengue researchers have designed a CRISPR-9 package that could delete a natural gene from the wild mosquito parent (the vector) and replace it with a gene that would confer sterility in the offspring. If enough of the mosquitoes are released and mate then in a few generations-about two to three weeks-the entire species would carry the genetically engineered version.