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Learning objectives

  • Distinguish between signs and symptoms of disease
  • Explain the difference between a communicable disease and a noncommunicable disease
  • Compare different types of infectious diseases, including iatrogenic, nosocomial, and zoonotic diseases
  • Identify and describe the stages of an acute infectious disease in terms of number of pathogens present and severity of signs and symptoms

Part 1

Michael, a 10-year-old boy in generally good health, went to a birthday party on Sunday with his family. He ate many different foods but was the only one in the family to eat the undercooked hot dogs served by the hosts. Monday morning, he woke up feeling achy and nauseous, and he was running a fever of 38 °C (100.4 °F). His parents, assuming Michael had caught the flu, made him stay home from school and limited his activities. But after 4 days, Michael began to experience severe headaches, and his fever spiked to 40 °C (104 °F). Growing worried, his parents finally decide to take Michael to a nearby clinic.

  • What signs and symptoms is Michael experiencing?
  • What do these signs and symptoms tell us about the stage of Michael’s disease?

Jump to the next Clinical Focus box.

A disease is any condition in which the normal structure or functions of the body are damaged or impaired. Physical injuries or disabilities are not classified as disease, but there can be several causes for disease, including infection by a pathogen, genetics (as in many cancers or deficiencies), noninfectious environmental causes, or inappropriate immune responses. Our focus in this chapter will be on infectious diseases, although when diagnosing infectious diseases, it is always important to consider possible noninfectious causes.

Signs and symptoms of disease

An infection is the successful colonization of a host by a microorganism. Infections can lead to disease, which causes signs and symptoms resulting in a deviation from the normal structure or functioning of the host. Microorganisms that can cause disease are known as pathogens.

The sign s of disease are objective and measurable, and can be directly observed by a clinician. Vital signs, which are used to measure the body’s basic functions, include body temperature (normally 37 °C [98.6 °F]), heart rate (normally 60–100 beats per minute), breathing rate (normally 12–18 breaths per minute), and blood pressure (normally between 90/60 and 120/80 mm Hg). Changes in any of the body’s vital signs may be indicative of disease. For example, having a fever (a body temperature significantly higher than 37 °C or 98.6 °F) is a sign of disease because it can be measured.

In addition to changes in vital signs, other observable conditions may be considered signs of disease. For example, the presence of antibodies in a patient’s serum (the liquid portion of blood that lacks clotting factors) can be observed and measured through blood tests and, therefore, can be considered a sign. However, it is important to note that the presence of antibodies is not always a sign of an active disease. Antibodies can remain in the body long after an infection has resolved; also, they may develop in response to a pathogen that is in the body but not currently causing disease.

Questions & Answers

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physiological Psychology
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Communication is effective because it allows individuals to share ideas, thoughts, and information with others.
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Every time someone flushes a toilet in the apartment building, the person begins to jumb back automatically after hearing the flush, before the water temperature changes. Identify the types of learning, if it is classical conditioning identify the NS, UCS, CS and CR. If it is operant conditioning, identify the type of consequence positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement or punishment
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because it helps many people around the world to understand how to interact with other people and understand them well, for example at work (job).
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A child is a member of community not society elucidate ?
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Isn't practices worldwide, be it psychology, be it science. isn't much just a false belief of control over something the mind cannot truly comprehend?
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Skinner skipped the whole unconscious phenomenon and rather emphasized on classical conditioning
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nature is an hereditary factor while nurture is an environmental factor which constitute an individual personality. so if an individual's parent has a deviant behavior and was also brought up in an deviant environment, observation of the behavior and the inborn trait we make the individual deviant.
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I am taking this course because I am hoping that I could somehow learn more about my chosen field of interest and due to the fact that being a PsyD really ignites my passion as an individual the more I hope to learn about developing and literally explore the complexity of my critical thinking skills
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Source:  OpenStax, Microbiology. OpenStax CNX. Nov 01, 2016 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col12087/1.4
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