- What are the various principles of prevention of infectious diseases?
- What is immunisation?
- There are two general ways to prevent diseases. These are described below
- General Ways of Preventing Infectious Diseases These ways are mostly related to prevent exposure to infectious microbes. Public hygiene is also necessary for prevention of infectious diseases.
The practices adopted for prevention of diseases that relate to environment are given in table below
| Microbes | Practice |
|---|---|
| Airborne | microbes |
| Waterborne microbes | By providing safe drinking water. This is done by treating water to kill any microbial contamination. |
| Vectorborne microbes | By providing clean environment, which would prevent breeding of mosquitoes, etc. |
- Specific Way of Preventing Infectious Diseases It includes adopting the practice of immunisation.
The immune system of our body normally fights against the microbes that enter into our body and kills them. The functioning of the immune system is like any other system in our body.
- When the immune system first sees an infectious microbe, it responds against it and then remembers it specifically. So, the next time when that particular microbe or its close relative enters the body, the immune system responds with great vigour and eliminates the infection more quickly. This immune response occurs with the help of lymphocytes (White Blood Cell or WBCs which recognise and react with antigens). Immunisation is stimulating the body to produce antibodies by artificial means. This is done by taking vaccines against certain diseases.