Question

Typhoid and cholera are typical examples of
1. Infectious diseases
2. Airborne diseases
3. Waterborne diseases
4. None of the above

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 3 : Waterborne diseases

The correct answer is Waterborne diseases.

• Typhoid and cholera are typical examples of Waterborne diseases.
• Waterborne diseases:
  • Waterborne diseases are conditions caused by pathogenic microorganisms that are transmitted in water.
  • These diseases can be spread while bathing, washing, drinking water, or eating food exposed to contaminated water.
  • A report by the United Nations says that more than three million people in the world die of water-related diseases due to contaminated water each year, including 1.2 million children.
  • In India, over one lakh people die of water-borne diseases annually.
  • It is reported that groundwater in one-third of India’s 600 districts is not fit for drinking as the concentration of fluoride, iron, salinity, and arsenic exceeds the tolerance levels.

• Typhoid:
  • Typhoid is an infectious bacterial disease that mainly spreads through contaminated food or water.
  • It is a serious disease spread through contaminated food and water causing high fever, abdominal pain, and diarrhoea.
  • It can also spread due to poor hygienic conditions.
  • The major symptoms of this disease are characterized by high fever, loss of appetite, and diarrhoea.
  • Typhoid fever is caused by Salmonella typhi bacteria.
  • In the Typhoid Widal test, a type of blood test is done to Identifies antibodies against Salmonella antigens.

• Infectious diseases:
  • Infectious disease, in medicine, a process caused by an agent, often a type of microorganism, that impairs a person’s health.
  • In many cases, an infectious disease can be spread from person to person, either directly (e.g., via skin contact) or indirectly (e.g., via contaminated food or water).
  • An infectious disease can differ from simple infection, which is the invasion of and replication in the body by any of various agents—including bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoans, and worms—as well as the reaction of tissues to their presence or to the toxins that they produce.
  • When health is not altered, the process is called subclinical infection.
  • Thus, a person may be infected but not have an infectious disease.
• Airborne diseases:
  • The airborne disease can spread when people with certain infections cough, sneeze, or talk, spewing nasal and throat secretions into the air. 
  • Some viruses or bacteria take flight and hang in the air or land on other people or surfaces.
  • When you breathe in airborne pathogenic organisms, they take up residence inside you.
  • You can also pick up germs when you touch a surface that harbours them, and then touch your own eyes, nose, or mouth.
  • Because these diseases travel in the air, they’re hard to control.