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First teaching 2023

First exams 2025

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Infectious Diseases (CIE AS Biology)

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Naomi H

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Naomi H

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Infectious Diseases

  • A disease is an illness or disorder of the body or mind that leads to poor health
  • Infectious diseases are caused by pathogens and are transmissible, meaning that they can be spread between individuals within a population

Infectious & non-infectious disease table

Term Definition Example
Infectious, or communicable, disease

Diseases caused by pathogens that can be transmitted from infected to uninfected people.

Some can transmit from animals to people, or people to animals
  • Cholera
  • Tuberculosis (TB)
  • Malaria
  • HIV/AIDS
Non-infectious disease Diseases that are not caused by pathogens, but that may instead be inherited, or related to lifestyle factors or life events
  • Lung cancer
  • Sickle cell disease
  • Depression
  • Coronary heart disease

Common Pathogens & Their Diseases

  • Examples of infectious diseases of worldwide importance are
    • Cholera
    • Malaria
    • Tuberculosis (TB)
    • HIV/ AIDS
  • The number of people infected with these diseases across the world remains very high, and they pose serious public health problems
  • These diseases are all caused by pathogens; understanding the pathogen and its method of transmission are important in reducing the spread of disease

Common infectious diseases table

Disease Pathogen Type of organism
Cholera Vibrio cholerae Bacterium
Malaria Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium malariae, Plasmodium ovale, Plasmodium vivax Protist
TB Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium bovis Bacterium
HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) Virus

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Naomi H

Author: Naomi H

Expertise: Biology

Naomi graduated from the University of Oxford with a degree in Biological Sciences. She has 8 years of classroom experience teaching Key Stage 3 up to A-Level biology, and is currently a tutor and A-Level examiner. Naomi especially enjoys creating resources that enable students to build a solid understanding of subject content, while also connecting their knowledge with biology’s exciting, real-world applications.