Anthropology 243 Medical Anthropology Fall 2024 PDF

ANTHROPOLOGY 243 MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY: HUMAN BIOLOGY AND HEALTH FALL 2024 ANNOUNCEMENTS Exam 2 Grades will be posted by Thursday Exam 3 Tuesday, 12/10: 8 - 10am in LH 8 (note that this will be a 60-minute exam that starts at 8am) In cases...

ANTHROPOLOGY 243 MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY: HUMAN BIOLOGY AND HEALTH FALL 2024 ANNOUNCEMENTS Exam 2 Grades will be posted by Thursday Exam 3 Tuesday, 12/10: 8 - 10am in LH 8 (note that this will be a 60-minute exam that starts at 8am) In cases where students have more than two exams scheduled in a 24-hour period, a student can request a make-up exam. The faculty member teaching the largest course will be expected to arrange a make-up exam. ANNOUNCEMENTS Schedule until Thanksgiving Break Tuesday, 11/12: Introduction to Infectious Disease (Chapter 8) Thursday, 11/14: Guest lecture from Meg Gauck on Colonialism and Tuberculosis Attendance and participation required Tuesday, 11/19: The Immune System Thursday, 11/21: Film Discussion: Bending the Arc Attendance and participation required Tuesday, 11/26: No class (Friday classes meet, not Tuesday) Thursday, 11/28: No class (Thanksgiving Break) INFECTIOUS DISEASE I (WILEY & ALLEN CH. 8) Wiley and Allen, Chapter 8: 240-248 What is infectious disease? Epidemiology Germ theory and Koch’s postulates Classes of infectious disease Infectious disease transmission WHAT IS AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE? Microorganisms that use a host’s resources to reproduce, resulting in an immune response or physiological disruption Host: organism that is the target of an infecting action of a specific infectious agent Most microorganisms don’t cause disease (e.g. gut bacteria); those that do are called pathogens (germs) There are 6 major groups of pathogens that infect humans: viruses, bacteria, protozoa, fungi, helminths, prions Variation in exposure and susceptibility  Immune system decreases as age increases Sanitation was a main reason in for decrease mortality , along w/ vaccines and medications a attributed a · M  TOP 10 CAUSES OF DEATH GLOBALLY Chronic or infectious ↑ diseases · not infectious to others income a Lower/middle acces close quarters , little  effect younger people (infants) LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES more likely die from to than infections disease Chronic disease LOWER-MIDDLE INCOME COUNTRIES HIGH-INCOME COUNTRIES Similar to global more likely to die from Chronic dran infectious disease WHAT AGE GROUP IS MOST AFFECTED BY INFECTIOUS DISEASES? Low resource environment immune system not fully developed TOP 10 CAUSES OF DEATH IN THE US (2023) Chronic CDC EPIDEMIC CURVE Epidemic – increase in the incidence of infection in a population at a specific time of shope graph : - deaths developed immunity - out - host maxed ↳ everyone obtained it Figure 8.3 in Wiley & Allen  “FLATTENING THE CURVE” Slow the order to help maximize healthcare resources speed in not necessarily preventing people from getting it , but rather slowing it down WHY DO WE STILL HAVE INFECTIOUS DISEASES? Conflicts between pathogens and hosts Pathogen vs. human evolution Pathogens reproduce more quickly than hosts and thus evolve faster Example: antibiotic resistance Novel environments - New diseases Zoonotic diseases (zoonosis/zoonoses) - infectious diseases caused by pathogens that spread between animals (usually vertebrates) and humans. Changes in virulence Virulence: the severity of a disease brought on by a pathogen can depend on means of transmission HOW DO WE KNOW THAT A SET OF SYMPTOMS RESULTS FROM AN INFECTION? Robert Koch (1843-1910) Germ theory of disease Koch’s postulates Pathogen must always be found in persons with the disease Pathogen must be isolated and grown in pure culture The culture should cause the disease when introduced into a healthy individual Pathogen can be isolated from second individual and grown in culture mayot always devel-o s ‘ Figure 8.1 Wiley & Allen 6 CLASSES OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE Viruses Bacteria Protozoa Fungi Helminths Prions VIRUSES Influenza not Cellular DNA or RNA surrounded by protein Obligate parasites - can't complete life cycle without host and its resources Mimic host cell proteins in order to bind with receptors on host cells Host is a carrier of the virus BACTERIA Tuberculosis Single-celled prokaryotic organisms (no nucleus) - Reproduce by duplicating their DNA and dividing Over 400 identified genera; 40 known to cause disease in humans We have 10x the number of bacterial cells as human cells Human gut bacteria: 5400 species; 3.3 lbs & Variability Survivability outside host, capsules, flagella, pili, spores, aerobic and anaerobic, virus-like PROTOZOA Malaria parasite Single-celled eukaryotic organisms (has a cell nucleus) Able to evade -- host’s immune defenses Infections are difficult to treat and symptoms may be chronic because their cellular structures are similar to host mammal Variability malaria Growth and reproductive stages in different organs, intermediate species, insect vectors, intracellular, extracellular Vector - any agent which carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism FUNGI Candida albicans Eukaryotic organisms (have cell nucleus) 70,000 species, though only a few are harmful to humans Low virulence, unless host is immunocompromised Variability Yeasts, spores HELMINTHS (WORMS) Tapeworm Multicellular organisms 3 cause disease in humans: Roundworms, tapeworms, flukes Damage depends on worm , symptoms, 50% of the world’s population is infected today etc. Historically – most humans were infected* Difficult to treat own defense mechanisms Tough outer coatings Transmission Intermediate hosts and water, soil, food PRIONS Infectious proteins Unclear how they replicate: no RNA or DNA Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies Human Creutzfeld-Jakob disease Kuru Non-human Bovine spongiform encephalopathy Cow Scrapie Sheep Transmission Exposure to brain tissue and spinal cord fluid from infected individuals Untreatable and fatal  HOW ARE PATHOGENS SPREAD? physic ansmission al for release of vulnerable fleds to pathogens Direct transmission allowut is thin tissues on outer regions & Epithelial cells – exploitation of most permeable part of host’s body Skin, reproductive tract, respiratory and digestive systems Droplet transmission short distance Microbes are spread in mucus droplets that travel short distance (less than 1 meter) Coughing, sneezing Vector-borne Intermediate species or material that can take a pathogen from one Can be host to another inanimate use Insects, animals (zoonosis), food, water, fecal-oral, utensils, objects needles EVOLUTION OF VIRULENCE Factors favoring selection for higher virulence Intermediary disease vectors Paul Ewald Transmission does not require host to be mobile Factors favoring selection for lower virulence Casual human-to-human transmission Transmission requires host to be mobile Domesticating diseases requires disrupting modes of transmission, which will create conditions for the pathogen to evolve to mildness. think from pathogens perspective PAUL EWALD SPEAKING IN THE EVOLUTIONARY ARMS RACE (TIME STAMP 25:50 TO 32:18) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJiJ63_e77E NEXT TIME… Guest lecture from Meg Gauck Attendance and participation required!