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2.E: Exercises

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    2628
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    Why is classification of pathogens important?

    1. Helps us predict behavior of the pathogen

    2.. Helps us choose correct drugs with which to treat pathogen infections (see

    table below)

    Antimicrobial drugs used to inhibit/kill pathogens

    pathogen

    drugs

    Prions (acellular)

    No drugs yet!

    Viruses (acellular)

    antivirals e.g. base analogues, protease inhibitors

    Bacteria (cellular prokaryotes)

    antibiotics e.g. beta-lactam antibiotics, eg. penicillin; tetracycline, aminoglycosides

    Protozoa (cellular eukaryotes)

    antiprotozoals eg quinine, chloroquine, metronidazole

    helminths/worms (cellular eukaryotes)

    antihelminthics eg diethylcarbamazine/DEC albendazole, ivermectin

    Ch 2 Homework: Discussion/Study guide questions

    1. How are prions and viruses similar? Different?
    2. How are viruses different from bacteria? Similar?
    3. How are bacteria and protozoa similar? Different?
    4. Why are prion diseases difficult to treat? Why are viral infections difficult to treat?
    5. Which of the following pathogens would be inhibited/killed by antibiotics? prions, viruses, bacteria
    6. Why are plant infectious diseases important to human health?
    7. Why are veterinary infectious diseases important to human health? What are zoonoses?
    8. What is the importance of arthropod vectors?
    9. Why do drugs used to inhibit/kill eukaryotic pathogens (e.g. Plasmodium causing malaria) often cause more unpleasant side effects for the human patient than antibiotics used to kill bacterial pathogens?

    1. Vocabulary: define/describe the following
    • acellular
    • cellular
    • unicellular
    • multicellular
    • intracellular
    • extracellular
    • prokaryote
    • eukaryote
    • arthropod vector
    • reservoir
    • zoonosis

    References

    1. Ahmed, N,. Dawson, M. Smith, C. and Wood, E. 2007. Biology of Disease. New York: Taylor and Francis Group, Publishers.
    2. Colleen Belk and Virginia Borden Maier.2010. Custom edition for SCC, extract from Biology Science For Life with Physiology .Pearson Publ.
    3. Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary 25th edition. 1974. Philadelphia: Saunders Publishers

    2.E: Exercises is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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