Pathogens, Disease and Transmission - Preventing Transmission of Disease (GCSE Biology)

Preventing Transmission of Disease

Reducing Spread of Pathogens

Detecting diseases early and treating them will prevent their spread but there are other ways where the spread of pathogens and disease can be reduced:

• Improving hygiene – improving hygiene can greatly reduce the spread of disease. Washing hands after using the loo and sneezing can reduce the spread of many diseases. Sneezing into the tissue, then disposing of the tissue is also useful. Cleanliness in food preparation can reduce the spread of disease. This involves using cleaning products on surfaces before and after cooking and reducing cross-contamination of produce and meats. Hygienic waste disposal and sewage treatment is also important for controlling the spread of disease.
• Avoiding infected individuals – if someone is infected, then being around them is dangerous. Therefore we often want to reduce exposure of people to an infected person by isolating infected individuals. For example, if a child has chicken pox, the school should advise against them coming into the classroom, where they could infect other students.
• Drugs and medicines – some drugs will help to kill pathogens quickly once they have entered the body, reducing whole-body infection and spread of the pathogen. For example, antibiotics work against bacterial pathogens.
• Vector control – many communicable diseases spread via vectors, which are carriers. For example, malaria spreads via mosquitos. We can therefore eradicate or control the population of vectors, for example by using mosquito spray when going to malaria-risk areas.
• Vaccination – people can be vaccinated against many diseases by introducing them to harmless antigens from a microorganism, which are then used to create antibodies against this pathogen. For example, the Hepatitis B vaccination will help to protect against Hepatitis B infection. The vaccination doesn’t stop the infection from happening, but it helps the body respond very quickly to any infection.