Prevention and Control Measures

Prevention and control of infections and disease

• Wash your hands well. You probably wash your hands after using the bathroom, before preparing or eating food, and after gardening or other dirty tasks. You should also wash your hands after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing; feeding or stroking your pet; or visiting or caring for a sick person. 

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• Cover a cough. Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you sneeze or cough, then dispose of it. If no tissue is handy, cough or sneeze into your elbow rather than into your hands.
• Wash and bandage all cuts. Any serious cut or animal or human bite should be examined by a doctor.
• Don't share dishes, glasses, or eating utensils.
• Avoid direct contact with napkins, tissues, handkerchiefs, or similar items used by others.
• Practice good food-safety techniques to avoid getting sick

Although most cases of food-borne infection are not dangerous, some can lead to serious medical conditions, including kidney failure and meningitis. You can prevent infections by food-borne pathogens in your household by preparing and storing foods safely.

• Wash fruits, and vegetables under running water before cooking or eating them.
• Wash your hands with soap and water before and after you handle raw meat.
• Separate raw foods and cooked foods. Don't use the same utensils or cutting boards with cooked meat that were used to prepare the raw meat without washing between uses.
• Cook foods thoroughly 
• If you know the tap water is not clean, boil all tap water before drinking and brushing your teeth. 
  

Vaccinations are essential if you are to avoid getting sick.  Vaccines reduce risks of getting a disease by working with your body’s natural defences to build protection. When you get a vaccine, your immune system responds. The WHO lists 34 diseases for which vaccines are available, some of which are listed below: 

The goal in public health is the eradication of a disease through vaccination. This has been achieved for smallpox and almost achieved for polio. The world has been able to reduce the number of polio cases from over 350,000 per year in the 1980s to just 42 cases in a year. 

The WHO estimates that 2 to 3 million deaths are prevented every year through immunization against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, and measles.

In general:

• Children should receive the recommended childhood vaccinations.
• Adults should make sure their vaccinations are up to date.

How to prevent infections by sexual transmission

The only sure way to prevent sexually transmitted diseases is to not have sexual intercourse or other sexual contact. That's not an option for most people, so the next best choice is to follow these safer sex guidelines:

Engage in sexual contact only with one partner who is having sex only with you.
Both you and your partner should be tested for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases and use a condom. 

Avoiding bug-borne pathogens

Both mosquitos and ticks are carriers of viruses and bacteria. Both have been associated with serious epidemics in the last decade.

Ticks are widespread and can transmit a variety of diseases, including Lyme disease and many others. They live in grassy and brushy areas and are most prevalent during wet seasons. A common hiding place is in wet leaves. They often infest animals, including field mice and deer. And they may be transported into your home by your pets.

The following can help prevent infections from bug bites:

• If you are in an area where insect-borne disease, like malaria, is present, use an insect repellent, sleep under a mosquito net, and take anti-malarial tablets. 
• Drain any standing water near your home to prevent mosquitoes from breeding.
• Remove any ticks which you find on your body.  Wash the area of the tick bite thoroughly with antiseptic. Watch the area closely for a couple of weeks for signs of rash or swelling.

Using animal-control to prevent infections

Controlling the population of rats in and near your home can help you avoid pathogens spread by rodents and help control the population of ticks that spread disease. Rodents can harbor a few pathogens, including plague. Other wild animals can also transmit rabies and other infections. The following measures can help you avoid getting sick from diseases transmitted by animals:

• Keep food and rubbish in covered.
• Seal holes and cracks in your home to deter rodent access.
• Clear brush and junk away from the foundation of your home.
• When outdoors, do not disturb rodent burrows or handle rodents.
• Stay clear of wild animals.  
• Keep your pets/farm animals away from wild animals, too. Dogs, cats, or any other type of warm-blooded animal can pick up rabies from wild animals and pass rabies along to people.

Different types of medicines are available to treat many different diseases. Some medicines only treat the symptoms and others cure the disease by killing the pathogens.

Antibiotics 

Antibiotics are substances that slow down or stop the growth of bacteria. They are commonly prescribed medicines; examples include penicillin and amoxicillin. These can be taken to cure the disease by killing the pathogen, but only cure bacterial diseases and not viral ones.

Penicillin was the first antibiotic discovered in 1928 by Alexander Fleming. He noticed that some bacteria he had left in a petri dish had been killed by the naturally occurring Penicillium mould.

Antibiotics damage the bacterial cells but do not damage the host cells. They have the ability to cure some bacterial diseases that would have previously killed many people. Since their introduction, they have had a large influence on the world's health and death rate.

Different bacteria cause different diseases. One antibiotic may only work against one type of bacteria, or a few types. This means that a range of different antibiotics is needed for the treatment of the whole range of bacterial diseases.

Viral diseases cannot be cured by antibiotics, as they reproduce inside the host cells. It is very difficult to develop antiviral drugs, as they might damage the host cell whist killing the virus. Antiviral drugs only slow down viral development, and viruses change their antigens quickly which means new drugs must be generated regularly.