HIV and AIDS

In yesterday's socratic seminar, many people brought up the point that many people in African countries are too embarrased to be tested to see if they have HIV.  There is now an alternative which may help more people get tested.  Read the following article:  HIV self-test proves accurate; Study in an ER shows individuals successfully determined their own HIV status, by Nathan Seppa.  How might this help stop the spread of HIV?  Think about what you learned in class and from the socratic seminar.

Dengue Fever

Dengue Fever is a disease with no cure.  It is spread using mosquitoes as a vector.  Scientists think they may have a way to stop the spread of this disease which is one of the "world's most pressing public health issues."  Read the following article from sciencedaily:  Flightless Mosquitoes Developed to Help Control Dengue Fever.  Describe dengue fever, how it is transmitted, and how scientists will be able to stop the spread of this disease.

Vector Borne Diseases

Many diseases are carried to humans by a vector.  What is a vector?  Give an example of a vector borne disease.

Scientists have now potentially found a way to stop the spread of certain vector borne diseases using an ipod....  Read the following article from Discover.  Field Notes Meddling With Mosquito Romance in the Name of Public Health by Dava Sobel.  How can scientists use an ipod to stop the spread of disease?

A vaccine against cocaine?

Vaccines are supposed to help prevent you from getting sick from a pathogen.  What is a pathogen?  How does a vaccine work (think of the primary and secondary immune responses)? 

Scientists now have a vaccine to break the addiction to cocaine. Read the following article from Discover:  Can an Injection Break a Cocaine Addiction?  The drug "vaccination" takes away the high, so users have little reason to use. by Boonsri Dickinson.  How can a vaccine prevent people from using cocaine?

Natural Disasters and Illness

The death toll from the earthquake in Haiti is rising.  Many people lost their homes and are living in makeshift tent cities.  People are in such close quarters, disease and illness is spreading. 

Read the following article found on the SF Chronicle's website:  Increasing deaths from illness in Haiti by Frank Bajak of the Associated Press

Why do natural disasters cause so much death afterwards?  What is causing people to die now, weeks after the earthquake?  What can we do to prevent this from occuring?  What can you do to prepare for a natural disaster?

What happens when your immune system is too strong?

It is important to have a healthy immune system.  But sometimes an immune response can be to strong and can lead to death.  Explain how this happens, what can trigger this strong response, and how scientists are able to help stop the overly strong immune response after reading the sciencedaily.com article:  Research Could Lead to Way to Halt Deadly Immune Response

How can you stop the spread of a virus?

Today in class we learned how to stop the spread of a virus through a lab simulation.  What are the different ways we can effectively treat, prevent, and stop the spread of viruses? 

Use the following article from sciencedaily.org and your notes to help you answer this question.  Targeted Prevention Stopped Spread of H1N1 at Alabama Boys Camp

Vaccinations

We learned that antibiotics do not treat viruses.  (Why do they not work on viruses?)  Scientists are constantly trying to find ways to fight viruses.  But the best way to fight a virus is to prevent it, through vaccines.  But there seems to be a lot of controversy about using vaccines.  Some parents choose not to have their children vaccinated. 

Read the following article:  From the infectious diseases meeting: What's with the vaccine-o-phobia? by Nathan Seppa.  What is the controversy.  Why do some people choose not to vaccinate?  Why do some scientists feel very strongly about vaccinated everyone?  What do you believe?

How can we fight a virus?

Antibiotics can be used to fight and treat bacterial infections.  But what about viruses?  What can we do to prevent a viral infection?   Is there a way to treat a viral infection?  Why or why  not?

Scientists may have an answer.  Read the following Science Daily article. 'Broad Spectrum' Antiviral Fights Multitude of Viruses. 

Explain how this compound works. 

Other Benefits of Bacteria

Bacteria is inside us and helps our digestive system.  But how might bacteria help us indirectly?  How can bacteria be helpful to our environment?

Read the following article from Science Daily:  Microbes Produce Fuels Directly from Biomass and explain the benefits of bacteria to our ecosystem.

Is all bacteria "bad"?

Bacteria makes you sick!  It is why you are told to cover your mouth when you cough, wash your hands before dinner, and not eat or drink in a science lab.  But if bacteria is all around us, and we are not always sick, can bacteria be good for us?

Read the following Science Daily article:  'Good' Bacteria Keep Immune System Primed to Fight Future Infections.

How can bacteria be good for us?  Give examples and use your notes and your textbook to help you answer these questions.

What is antibiotic resistance?

Everywhere you look you can find purell, antibacterial soaps, disinfectants that kill 99.9% of all bacteria...  In your classrooms, on the supermarket shelves, at home, etc.  This is great if you don't want to catch a cold or the flu, but what problems might this cause? 

Read the following article from Science Daily:  Disinfectants May Promote Growth of Superbugs

What is antibiotic resistance?  How do bacteria become resistant?  What problems does cause?

Spread of Bacterial Diseases

Today in class we were introduced to bacteria to start off our immunology unit.  Bacteria are spread in many ways.  Scientists now have discovered that smoking a cigarette can spread bacteria - in addition to other harmful (and many times deadly) effects that lead to diseases such as emphysema and lung cancer. 

Read Janet Raloff's article, Cigarettes might be infectious:  And, presumably, people wouldn't need to light up to risk getting sick. 

How is the bacteria spread?  What conditions allow the bacteria to survive in the cigarette?  Use your information from the bacteria notes to help you respond.