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Communicable disease - EdexcelHow to prevent the spread of diseases

Disease-causing viruses, bacteria, fungi or protists are called pathogens. Sterilising water, preparing food hygienically, washing, vaccination and barrier contraception can reduce the spread of pathogens.

Part of Biology (Single Science)Health, disease and the development of medicines

How to prevent the spread of diseases

The of can be prevented or reduced in a number of ways. A number of important methods of doing this are shown in the table below.

Method	Example of disease	How it works
Sterilising water	Cholera	Chemicals or UV light kill pathogens in unclean water.
Suitable hygiene: food	Salmonella	Cooking foods thoroughly and preparing them in hygienic conditions kills pathogens.
Suitable hygiene: personal	Athlete's foot	Washing surfaces with disinfectants kills pathogens. Treating existing cases of infection kills pathogens.
Vaccination	Tuberculosis	Immunisations introduce a small or weakened version of a pathogen into your body, and the immune system learns how to defend itself.
Contraception	HIV/AIDS	By using barrier contraception like condoms, it stops the transfer of bodily fluids and sexually transmitted diseases.

Method	Sterilising water
Example of disease	Cholera
How it works	Chemicals or UV light kill pathogens in unclean water.

Method	Suitable hygiene: food
Example of disease	Salmonella
How it works	Cooking foods thoroughly and preparing them in hygienic conditions kills pathogens.

Method	Suitable hygiene: personal
Example of disease	Athlete's foot
How it works	Washing surfaces with disinfectants kills pathogens. Treating existing cases of infection kills pathogens.

Method	Vaccination
Example of disease	Tuberculosis
How it works	Immunisations introduce a small or weakened version of a pathogen into your body, and the immune system learns how to defend itself.

Method	Contraception
Example of disease	HIV/AIDS
How it works	By using barrier contraception like condoms, it stops the transfer of bodily fluids and sexually transmitted diseases.

Sexually-transmitted infections

Fungal diseases

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