Communicable diseases are diseases that are spread from person to person. Diseases are caused by microorganisms that can either spread directly or indirectly, person to person, animal to animal or person, and environment to person. Many diseases such as COVID-19, the flu, and Ebola are considered communicable. Non-communicable diseases are diseases that cannot be spread from person to person through touch or the environment. Some examples of non-communicable diseases are cancer, diabetes, and obesity. Infectious diseases are caused by pathogens that enter the body. Our body has an immune system the pathogens encounter; it protects us from harmful diseases. However, if our immune system is not strong enough, pathogens can enter and harm us.
What are Pathogens?
Pathogens are disease-causing organisms. Examples of pathogens include viruses (chickenpox, flu, HIV), bacteria (streptococcus, strep throat), fungi (athletes foot), single-celled eukaryotes (giardia, malaria), and multicellular parasites (tapeworm). Pathogens can stay alive if they enter the host cell, where they can manipulate the immune system. They usually die once our white blood cells recognize it and our immune system starts.
The Immune System
Our body has three different immune defense signs. The immune system can protect the body from pathogens and harmful diseases. The innate or nonspecific immunity is the first line of defense; it attacks any pathogen and is a rapid response. Those include the skin, mucus, salvia, hair-like molecules in the nose, harmless bacteria, and stomach acid. The innate immunity also has a second line of defense: internal molecules, including interferon, fever, and phagocytes. This second line of defense includes interferons which are created to fight off viruses only. Interferons are chemical signals (proteins) produced by some virally infected cells that send signals to warn neighboring cells. The neighboring cells produced antiviral proteins to defend against infection. A statement to remember interferons is that it interferes with viral growth in viruses. A second type of immunity is specific immunity, and like the name it targets specific pathogens. This immunity is slower and takes around five to seven days. The specific immunity has the third line of defense. The hormonal response creates antibodies to target free pathogens. Cell-mediated responses are infections in body cells. Imagine a pathogen entering the body and getting through the first line of defense. The macrophage would engulf the pathogen and display its antigen. An antigen is a protein or polysaccharide on the surface of a cell that identifies the cell as harmful or harmless. The macrophage then calls for T-cells. After, the helper T-cells are activated and attached to the antigen. The humoral immune response is activated, and the specific B gulf, the same pathogen, presents the same antigen on the protein's surface. B-cells are then matched with helper T-cells. The activated B-cell becomes more mature, which produces plasma cells and memory B-cell. Then, plasma cells create antibodies which attach to the antigens of the pathogen to fight them off. Plasma cells release 2, 000 antibodies. It is important for the antigens to bind to pathogens as the antigen attaches to cells and blocks off the cells’ function. Each antibody is specific for a particular antigen. Agglutination means viruses can not move, which means it can not infect cells. Memory cells are created to stay in the body for a long period of time. The secondary immune system remembers and recognizes the pathogen so if the same type of pathogen does enter the body the second time, antibodies would already be produced and take a shorter amount of time.
How to Fight Communicable Diseases?
There are many ways to protect and reduce the risk of pathogens entering our bodies. You can wash your hands for at least 45 seconds each time. Vaccines are created for us to reduce the risks of diseases. There will always be a risk for those diseases because no vaccine is 100% successful. Vaccines help the body’s immune system develop protection from a specific disease. Some vaccines are the covid vaccine, varicella (chickenpox), flu vaccine, and pertussis (whooping cough). For the COVID-19 vaccine, the vaccine produces mRNA to teach the immune system to recognize the RNA, when a person becomes infected, the immune system will produce antibodies faster. The mRNA compels cells to produce proteins that mimic the RNA found in the virus. Remember to get the recommended vaccines at each age level to protect yourself and others.
Written by: Amber Truong
Source:
“Communicable Disease.” Alameda County Public Health Department, acphd.org/communicable-disease/#:%7E:text=Some%20examples%20of%20the%20reportable,and%20other%20food%20borne%20illnesses. Accessed 10 June 2021.
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