Question

Which one of the following is a set of diseases caused/spread by mosquitoes?
1. Cholera, Dengue, Malaria
2. Chickungunya, Dengue, Malaria
3. Chickungunya, Cholera, Typhoid
4. Chickungunya, Malaria, Typhoid

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 2 : Chickungunya, Dengue, Malaria

Concept:

• Various diseases are caused by animals or are transmitted by them to humans.

Explanation:

Dengue:

• Dengue is carried by the female mosquito Aedes.
• Its symptoms are nausea, vomiting, aches and pains, rash.
• Whereas, vomiting blood, bleeding from the nose or gums are symptoms of severe dengue.
• It can be prevented by the cleanliness and preventing oneself from mosquito bites.
• It can be cured by taking paracetamol, drinking fluids.

Malaria:

• Malaria spreads only by the disease-carrying mosquitoes.
• The vector of malaria is the female anopheles mosquito.
• Malaria spreads only when a female mosquito that has bitten a malaria patient bites another person.
• A blood test is done to check if a person has malaria or not.
• People with malaria get a fever with chills, sweating, headache, nausea and rigours.
• Malaria is caused by protozoan Plasmodium.
• In early times, the dried and powdered bark of the Cinchona tree was used to make medicine for malaria.
• Earlier people used to boil the bark powder and strain the water which was given to patients.
• Now tablets are made from this in the form of quinine, chloroquine is given to patients.

Chikungunya:

• It is a viral disease that is transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes.
• It is spread by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. 
• The most common symptoms of infection are fever and joint pain.
• Other symptoms may include headache, muscle pain, joint swelling, or rash. 

​Thus, Dengue, Malaria and Chikungunya are the diseases spread by mosquitoes.​

HIV-AIDS:

• The human immunodeficiency virus is a virus that attacks cells that help the body fight infection.
• It makes a person more vulnerable to other infections and diseases.
• It is spread by contact with certain bodily fluids of a person with HIV.
• Most commonly during unprotected sex (sex without a condom or HIV medicine to prevent or treat HIV), or through sharing injection drug equipment.
• AIDS is the late stage of HIV infection that occurs when the body’s immune system is badly damaged because of the virus.

Typhoid:

• Typhoid fever is a systemic infection caused by Salmonella Typhi.
• It is usually through the ingestion of contaminated food or water.
• It can lead to a high fever, diarrhoea, and vomiting.
• It can be fatal.
• It is more prevalent in places where handwashing is less frequent.

Cholera:

• It is an acute diarrhoeal infection.
• It is caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. 
• Key symptoms are diarrhoea and dehydration.
• Rarely, shock and seizures may occur in severe cases.

 

Some common communicable diseases are: 

Name of Disease	Mode of Spread
Cholera	Food and water
Typhoid	Food and water
Hepatitis (Jaundice)	Food and water
Influenza (Flu)	Air to air
Tuberculosis (T.B.)	Air to air
Malaria	Mosquito
Tetanus	Bite or wound exposed to dust or Iron
Polio	Food and water
Swine Flu	Air to Air