Name: Shayan Mahmood Title: Types of diseases and infections that can affect humans
Infectious diseases
Salmonella (Bacteria)
Salmonella is a type of bacteria. Salmonella is a prokaryotic cell, meaning that it doesn’t have a
nucleus. Bacteria can live in the environment for a very long time, however its optimal environment
is a temperature of 25-45 degrees, a pH of 7.4 and since bacteria respire, they will need oxygen. The
bacteria use the nutrients and oxygen within our blood to reproduce very quickly, bacteria
reproduce through binary fission. Binary fission is a process of how bacteria produce, bacteria
reproduce asexually which means they reproduce themselves into 2 different copies. Salmonella
gets into the body by contaminated food, for example infected water or food. This can be prevented
by making sure the food you eat is fully cooked. Some of the foods that salmonella could be in are
raw/undercooked eggs, fruits and vegetables and seafood (CDC, 2019). Another way it can spread is
by people not being hygienic, for example not washing your hands after handling contaminated food
or after you go to the toilet. One of the main symptoms of salmonella food poisoning is diarrhoea,
salmonella affects the linings of the intestines so the body won't be able to absorb as much water as
it should, this means that it can cause the patient to be dehydrated. Other symptoms of salmonella
food poisoning are stomach cramps, fevers, headaches, chills and vomiting (Mayo Clinic, 2019).
Bacteria damages he body by creating and releasing toxins to damage the body. Salmonella usually
targets the cells that line our intestines. This might be why one of the symptoms is diarrhoea
because the body won't be able to absorb as much water as it used to.
How bacteria reproduce:
Firstly, the DNA of the bacteria cell will get replicated then the bacteria cell will grow larger until it
splits into 2 daughter cells. The optimal requirements for a bacteria cell to grow is in a temperature
range of 25-45 degrees Celsius. They like to be in a moist protein rich environment and in a pH of
7.4. Bacteria produce very rapidly, around once every 4-20 minutes.
Life cycle for bacteria
Lag phase: During the lag phase the bacteria is adjusting to its new environment. The bacteria won't
be reproducing at all and will not be attacking the body. The person with the infection wouldn’t
experience any symptoms at this stage.
Log phase: The log phase is when the bacteria starts reproducing. It does it via binary fission. At this
time the bacteria will be reproducing rapidly. This is where the patient will be experiencing
symptoms.
Stationary phase: This is where the bacteria slows down its rate of reproduction The growth of
bacteria will be the same as the number of deaths.
Death phase: At the death phase the bacteria will stop diving. The bacteria will start to die and the
number of deaths of the bacteria will be greater than the amount of alive bacteria.
,HIV (virus)
HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. A virus is an akaryotic cell meaning it has no nucleus,
figure 1 shows this. Viruses can only live on surfaces for around 24 hours. They damage the body by
firstly hijacking a host cell, it does this by wrapping its tail fibres around the cell. Now the virus will
begin to puncture the cell using the baseplate. This allows the virus to inject RNA into the cell. Figure
1 shows a diagram of a virus. One the RNA has been injected into the cell it can control the cell and
will make the cell replicate the RNA and create new viral components to the cell for example,
protein coats. The cell will have replicated the virus so much that it causes the cell to burst, these
new viruses will continue to hijack other cells around the body (Cohen, 2016). This means that the
only way a virus can replicate is by hijacking a host cell. If they don’t find a host cell, then the virus
will die within a few hours. The process of a virus hijacking a cell can take 12 hours to complete or
several days, depending on the type of virus. HIV enters the body by either sexual intercourse,
sharing needles or any fluids from the carrier. Some of the symptoms of HIV are a raised
temperature, sore throat, body rash and tiredness (NHS, 2019c). The symptoms a HIV positive
person may have are a sore throat, rashes, raised temperature, tiredness, muscle pain, joint pain,
weight loss and more. (HIV.gov, 2018)
Figure 1: Diagram of a virus. (Research gate, 2019)
When someone first gets HIV there will be a long period where they will have no symptoms. This is
called the latency period. The latency period for HIV is 2-6 weeks. However, in some cases it can take
several years for the patient to have any symptoms. The symptoms they might have will be very
similar to the flu (HIV.gov, 2020). HIV takes a long time to develop into aids. Aids is caused by HIV
because the HIV virus slowly damages the immune system making the immune system weaker so it
can't fight off infections. This process can take 10-15 years without medication but may take longer if
medication is used.
CD4 T cells are part of the immune system, they don’t kill any pathogens. Instead, they trigger the
immune system when to fight the infection. If the CD4 T cells notice there is a pathogen invading the
body, it will trigger the immune system to fight it. HIV is a virus, so it needs a host to reproduce, the
HIV virus hijacks the CD4 T cells which kills them. Slowly overtime the number of CD4 T cells will be
reduced in the body which means the body's ability to trigger an immune response will be depleted
to the point that the body will be open to other pathogens, this is called AIDs. This can impact the
, body by losing its ability to defend itself from other pathogens meaning they can die from them
pathogens the patient will feel very poorly from the symptoms of the illnesses this can affect their
quality of life. The process of the immune system being depleted can take years. (Cichocki, 2022)
Stages of HIV:
Stage 1: Acute HIV infection. This stage usually develops around 2-4 weeks after getting infected. At
this stage the patient may have flu like symptoms and rashes. The HIV virus will be multiplying
quickly meaning some of the CD4 T cells are starting to die. However, this is where treatment is most
effective because the immune system will still be strong.
Stage 2: Chronic HIV infection. At the second stage of HIV the virus will still be multiplying but at a
slower rate. Some people may have no symptoms at this stage whereas others might. This is the
longest stage, it can last for 10 years or longer, the virus will still be multiplying and damaging the
immune system, but the patient wouldn’t notice any symptoms. After stage 3 is AIDs
Stage 3 (AIDs): This is the most severe stage of HIV is AIDs . The body's immune system will struggle
to fight off simple infections. For example, the flu. The body can also be exposed to fungal infections
like thrush. If the patient is diagnosed to be at stage 3 and haven't has treatment their life
expectancy is around 3 years. The patient will also be able to transmit HIV to others easily (HIV.info,
2021)
How does HIV affect everyday life
HIV can restrict what people can or can't do. Some countries don’t allow HIV positive people to enter
their country some of these countries are Iraq, Jordan Yemen and more. This can affect them by
having to replan their holiday to go somewhere else. These travel restrictions change very frequently
so sometimes people HIV positive might’ve not known about the restriction and would’ve wasted
money and can ruin their holiday. (Aidsmap, 2018)
HIV patients will have to go to hospital once every 6 months to have tests done upon them,
sometimes they might have to go more often depending on how severe HIV is for the patient. The
patient's diet might have to change. To help maintain the immune system a good diet with good
nutrition can help to benefit the patient. This can affect the patient negatively by having to change
the food they are already comfortable eating, however, some patients might not be able to afford
quality nutritious food which can affect their health.
People who are HIV positive will be afraid to say they have HIV because they think people will think
of them negatively. They might stop socialising as they used to which can lead to mental illnesses
such as anxiety, depression and stress (MedicalNewsToday, 2020). HIV patients might struggle to do
daily tasks because one of the symptoms are tiredness, this can make them struggle doing physical
tasks because they won't have the strength to do it, if their job requires any physical activities then
wouldn’t be able to do it, tiredness can affect their social life too which is one of the reasons why
HIV patients have a higher change to get depression and anxiety. (Basavaraj, et al, 2010)
Tapeworm (parasite)
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