Human Health And Disease – Notes

Common Diseases
Health is regarded as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being.
Infectious diseases are those that can e transmitted from one person to another.
Diseases can be caused by a variety of organisms such as bacteria or fungi. All disease-causing organisms are called pathogens.
Some common pathogens are bacteria, viruses, helminths and fungi.
Bacteria cause diseases such as thyroid, pneumonia, dysentery, plague and diphtheria.
Helminths, Ascaris and Wuchereria are responsible for causing pathogenic diseases such as ascariasis and filariasis in human beings whereas fungi cause ringworm in human beings.

Infectious Disease and Their Prevention
Malaria is caused by a tiny parasitic protozoan called Plasmodium.
Amoebiasis or amoebic dysentery is another disease caused by a protozoan called Entamoeba histolytica that lives in the large intestine of human beings.
Maintaining both personal and public hygiene is crucial for the prevention and control of several infectious diseases.