Introduction to Disease and Vaccines

What is a disease?

A disease is a problem in your body that makes you feel ill or sick. Some diseases only
last a few days, but other diseases can last for a lifetime. Some diseases give you mild
symptoms like fever or coughing. Some diseases can be much more serious and even
deadly.

What causes a disease?

There are four different types of disease.

Genetic diseases are diseases that you are born with. Normal Red Blood Cell Sickle Cell

Genetic diseases come from a problem or change in your

genes as you develop in the womb. Our genes are made up
of molecules called DNA. They are our bodies’ instruction
manuals or ‘building blocks’. Our genes control things like
our hair and eye colour, but they also control important
instructions about the way that cells are made. Sometimes
there can be a faulty code and this can result in a medical condition or a genetic
disease. For example, some people are born with sickle cell anaemia, which is a disease
of the blood. The code that the body uses to make red blood cells is faulty, and the
cells are made in an unusual shape.

Normal Bones Rickets

Deficiency diseases are illnesses that you can get if you

don’t get the right amount of vitamins and minerals in
your diet. For example, someone who doesn’t get enough
calcium can get rickets. A painful condition that causes
soft, weak bones, and bow legs.

Normal Cells Cancer

Physiological diseases happen when the body goes wrong. For
example, some people develop heart disease or cancer. They
weren’t born with the problem, but their body started going
wrong when they got older. We can reduce our risk of
developing physiological disease by eating a healthy diet,
exercising regularly and avoiding chemicals that are known
to cause harm, for example tobacco.
 Viruses Bacteria

Infectious diseases happen when tiny living cells called

organisms get into the body. Organisms can be bacteria,
viruses, fungi or parasites. Any organism which causes a
disease is called a pathogen. Infectious diseases can be
passed from person to person. For example, chicken pox
and the common cold are both diseases which can be spread Parasites e.g., lice,
ticks and mites.
easily.

How can we stop infectious diseases from spreading?

A really good way to reduce your chance of spreading or

catching an infectious disease is to wash your hands.
Washing your hands regularly with soap will help to prevent
pathogens from getting into your body. Cleaning surfaces
regularly also helps to prevent pathogens from spreading.

Another very effective way of stopping diseases from

spreading is vaccination. Vaccination is a way of making
people immune to a particular disease. It involves putting a
very weak form of a pathogen into the body. This weak
pathogen doesn’t make you ill but it does make your body
fight it with antibodies. These antibodies are remembered
by your body, so that if you get any of the same pathogens
again, you won’t get ill, because your body will remember
how to fight the disease.