Question

What are the principles of treatment of infectious diseases?

Answer 1

Infectious diseases are a type of diseases, which are caused by microorganisms like bacteria, fungi, protozoans etc. Microbes move from one person into another in numerous ways. Since the diseases are easily communicated from person to person, they are also called communicable diseases. Humans, insects and animals are responsible for the transmission of infectious diseases. Infectious agents are ubiquitous.

Complete answer:
There are two main ways available for the treatment of communicative or infectious diseases. They are as follows:
1. Mitigating the impact of the disease.
2. Killing the causal agent of the disease.
1. Mitigating the impact of the disease:
Symptomatic treatment should be provided. The patient should be treated to reduce the symptoms. To conserve the energy in the body, bed rest is recommended. Medicines are taken to bring down fever and reduce the pain. These steps taken will help to focus on healing the person. But mere healing is not healing since it does not kill the microorganisms in the body, as it provides temporary relief only. In order to fully cure the disease, killing the microorganisms is the need of the hour.
2. Killing the causal agent of the disease:
It is the killing of the pathogens, which are the causal agent for the disease. The most common method involved is killing the pathogens using medicines. Each group of microbes are peculiar in having different biochemical life processes. These processes are not overlapped with that of other groups. Human body cells possess different pathways when compared to microbial body pathways. Hence, a drug should be found, which blocks the microbial pathway, but not the human body pathway. This type of mechanism is achieved by antibiotics only. E.g. Malarial parasite, a protozoan, is killed by this style of mechanism only.

Note:
These are some of the examples of infectious diseases. Worms cause elephantiasis. Viruses cause dengue, influenza, AIDS and the common cold. Bacteria can cause fever, cholera and typhoid. Trypanosoma causes sleeping sickness. Further, polio, mumps, plague, malaria, meningitis, diphtheria, hepatitis A, hepatitis C, hepatitis B, tuberculosis, yellow fever, anthrax, covid-19 and whooping cough are other infectious diseases.