Tag: classification of microbes

Penicillin sometimes abbreviated PCN or pen is a group of antibiotics derived from Penicillium fungi. Penicillin antibiotics were among the first drugs to be effective against many previously serious diseases, such as bacterial infections caused by staphylococci and streptococci. Penicillins are still widely used today, though misuse has now made many types of bacteria resistant.

Tourniquet test determines the capillary fragility. It is a clinical diagnostic method to determine a patient's haemorrhagic tendency. It assesses fragility of capillary walls and is used to identify thrombocytopenia (reduced platelet count). This test is used for the diagnosis of dengue fever, also called as breakbone fever.
Therefore, the correct answer is option B.

Dengue is transmitted by the bite of a mosquito infected with one of the four dengue viruses. It is a febrile illness that affects infants, young children and adults with symptoms appearing 3-14 days after the infective bite.
Dengue is not transmitted directly from person-to-person and symptoms range from mild fever, to incapacitating high fever, with severe headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pain, and rash. There is no vaccine or any specific medicine to treat dengue. People who have dengue fever should rest, drink plenty of fluids and reduce the fever using paracetamol or see a doctor. Dengue is transmitted by several species of mosquito within the genus Aedes, principally A. aegypti.
Severe dengue (also known as dengue hemorrhagic fever) is characterized by fever, abdominal pain, persistent vomiting, bleeding and breathing difficulty and is a potentially lethal complication, affecting mainly children. Early clinical diagnosis and careful clinical management by trained physicians and nurses increase survival of patients.

Common viral diseases include: chickenpox, flu, influenza, herpes, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV/AIDS), human papilloma virus (HPV), mumps, measles and rubella. Bacteria cause disease by secreting or excreting toxins (as in botulism), by producing toxins internally, which are released when the bacteria disintegrate (as in typhoid), or by inducing sensitivity to their antigenic properties (as in tuberculosis). Other serious bacterial diseases include cholera, diphtheria, bacterial meningitis and syphilis.

House flies are strongly suspected of transmitting at least 65 diseases to humans, including typhoid fever, dysentery, cholera, poliomyelitis, anthrax, tularemia, leprosy and tuberculosis. Flies regurgitate and excrete wherever they come to rest and thereby mechanically transmit disease organisms. Dengue is transmitted by mosquito.

There is no vaccine to protect against dengue. Developing a vaccine against the disease is challenging. With four different serotypes of the dengue virus that can cause the disease, the vaccine must immunize against all four types to be effective. 

Diphtheria is caused by a bacterium, Corynebacterium diphtheriae. The actual disease is caused when the bacteria release a toxin into a person's body. Diphtheria bacteria live in the mouth, throat, and nose of an infected person and can be passed to others by coughing or sneezing. Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by the influenza virus. The most common symptoms include: a high fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pains, headache, coughing, and feeling tired. These symptoms typically begin two days after exposure to the virus and most last less than a week. 

DPT refers to a class of combination vaccines against three infectious diseases in humans: diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), and tetanus. MMR vaccine is a live attenuated viral vaccine used to induce immunity against measles, mumps and rubella. Dengue has no vaccine yet.

Influenza (also known as the flu) is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza virus. Typhoid fever is an acute illness associated with fever caused by the Salmonella typhi bacteria. Cholera is an infectious disease that causes severe watery diarrhoea, caused by bacterium called Vibrio cholerae. Diphtheria is caused by the Corynebacterium diphtheriae bacterium.

Diseases caused by viruses are common cold, influenza, AIDS and dengue. Therefore, (b) is the correct answer. Tuberculosis and cholera are caused by bacteria.