Module 7: Infectious Diseases
Causes of Infectious Diseases
● describe a variety of infectious diseases caused by pathogens, including microorganisms,
macroorganisms and non-cellular pathogens, and collect primary and
secondary-sourced data and information relating to disease transmission, including:
(ACSBL097, ACSBL098, ACSBL116, ACSBL117)
- classifying different pathogens that cause disease in plants and animals
(ACSBL117)
- investigating the transmission of a disease during an epidemic
- design and conduct a practical investigation relating to the microbial testing of
water or food samples
- investigate modes of transmission of infectious diseases, including direct contact,
indirect contact and vector transmission
● investigate the work of Robert Koch and Louis Pasteur, to explain the causes and
transmission of infectious diseases, including:
- Koch’s postulates
- Pasteur’s experiments on microbial contamination
● assess the causes and effects of diseases on agricultural production, including but not
limited to:
- plant diseases
- animal diseases
● compare the adaptations of different pathogens that facilitate their entry into and
transmission between hosts (ACSBL118)
Pathogens: are organisms or biogenic molecules (such as proteins) that cause diseases. They are
infectious against agents, meaning they can be passed from one individual to another
, Transmission of disease:
- Direct contact: occurs when the host directly contacts the non infected organism through
(touching, kissing biting, body fluids)
- Indirect contact: includes airborne transmission, touching infected surface, contaminated
food or water
- Vector transmission: not pathogens themselves, rather they carry the pathogens that cause
the disease (for example: malaria is caused by a protist parasite Plasmodium, which are
carried by mosquitoes. In this example the plasmodium is the pathogen and mosquitoes are
the vector.)
Infection: the way that pathogens break and enter our bodies without getting caught
Many types of transmission:
- Direct contact
- Exchange of fluids
- Contamination
- Airborne
- Vector
How pathogens establish an infection:
Entry:
- Pathogens can enter the body via the
- Respiratory tract
- Gastrointestinal tract
- Genitourinary tract
- Skin (if broken)
Invasion:
- Pathogens can either infiltrate cells or travel through the blood and tissue fluids
Causes of Infectious Diseases
● describe a variety of infectious diseases caused by pathogens, including microorganisms,
macroorganisms and non-cellular pathogens, and collect primary and
secondary-sourced data and information relating to disease transmission, including:
(ACSBL097, ACSBL098, ACSBL116, ACSBL117)
- classifying different pathogens that cause disease in plants and animals
(ACSBL117)
- investigating the transmission of a disease during an epidemic
- design and conduct a practical investigation relating to the microbial testing of
water or food samples
- investigate modes of transmission of infectious diseases, including direct contact,
indirect contact and vector transmission
● investigate the work of Robert Koch and Louis Pasteur, to explain the causes and
transmission of infectious diseases, including:
- Koch’s postulates
- Pasteur’s experiments on microbial contamination
● assess the causes and effects of diseases on agricultural production, including but not
limited to:
- plant diseases
- animal diseases
● compare the adaptations of different pathogens that facilitate their entry into and
transmission between hosts (ACSBL118)
Pathogens: are organisms or biogenic molecules (such as proteins) that cause diseases. They are
infectious against agents, meaning they can be passed from one individual to another
, Transmission of disease:
- Direct contact: occurs when the host directly contacts the non infected organism through
(touching, kissing biting, body fluids)
- Indirect contact: includes airborne transmission, touching infected surface, contaminated
food or water
- Vector transmission: not pathogens themselves, rather they carry the pathogens that cause
the disease (for example: malaria is caused by a protist parasite Plasmodium, which are
carried by mosquitoes. In this example the plasmodium is the pathogen and mosquitoes are
the vector.)
Infection: the way that pathogens break and enter our bodies without getting caught
Many types of transmission:
- Direct contact
- Exchange of fluids
- Contamination
- Airborne
- Vector
How pathogens establish an infection:
Entry:
- Pathogens can enter the body via the
- Respiratory tract
- Gastrointestinal tract
- Genitourinary tract
- Skin (if broken)
Invasion:
- Pathogens can either infiltrate cells or travel through the blood and tissue fluids
