Question

Under which of the following conditions are you most likely to fall sick?
a. When you are having examinations.
b. When you have travelled by bus and train for two days.
c. When your friend is suffering from measles. Why?

Answer 1

The feeling one gets when he or she is not keeping well in terms of physical, mental, or social health is called sickness. There can be varied reasons for a person to fall sick. Let us explore more about the sickness to find the most suitable answer.

Complete answer:
Let us first understand the basics of sickness and the underlying causes and symptoms.
So as said above also, sickness is a feeling of not keeping well either in social, mental or physical aspects. It generally involves deviation from normal functioning and behaviour of the body and the sick person as a whole. There can be many reasons for a person to become sick.

Some of the major causes for sickness –
Disease- Any deviation from the normal state of body, which may be a result of some infection or other cause such as genetic disorder but not just a mere manifestation of the physical injury, can be defined as a disease. Diseases are often associated with certain signs and symptoms indicative of the abnormality. Though diseases can be categorised on the basis of a number of criteria, they can be categorised into two major groups based on the capability to spread. They are-

Communicable diseases- Also known as transmissible or infectious diseases and they are caused by the infection, presence and growth of pathogenic microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, etc. They have the capacity to spread from one person to another, directly or indirectly.
Example- The viral infection, Measles is highly contagious and can be easily spread by various means- by airborne respiratory droplets, coughing, sneezing, contaminated surfaces,etc. Infact, it can infect almost 90% of the people in close proximity who are not immune to this disease.

Non- communicable diseases- They are not spread from one one person to another. Ex- Cancer, cerebrovascular diseases, etc. Lifestyle patterns are one of the major contributors to non-communicable diseases.

Stress- It can lead to changes in eating and sleep patterns leading to a feeling of sickness. For example, during examinations, we sometimes tend to sleep less and skip meals leading to sickness. But, this can be avoided if we follow our regular routine.

Based on the above discussion, it is most likely that a person will contract disease when he or she gets in close proximity with a person suffering from contagious disease.

Hence, the correct answer is option (C).

Note: Measles is a disease of humans which spreads by droplet infection and is not caused by any other animal species. Measles can be spread from an infected person from a period ranging between 4 days prior to 4 days after the appearance of rashes.