Emerging Diseases: Prions and Viruses

Synopsis

Looks at the risks imposed by emerging diseases and examines four specific examples in detail. Deals in turn with the following topics:

What is an emerging disease? - one which suddenly appears in a population for the first time; disease-causing organisms are constantly evolving alongside humans, and at times can evolve into new and more dangerous forms which can defeat human natural defences.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) - believed to be caused by prions (proteinaceous infectious particles); structure and characteristics of prions; symptoms and effects of CJD; transmission of CJD by biological products; inheritance and possibly by consumption of meat from cattle infected with BSE; diagnosis of CJD, currently no cure.

Zoonotic diseases- e.g. Rift Valley Fever (RVF) - infectious diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans (e.g. anthrax, bubonic plague, Ebola fever, Rift Valley fever); detailed examination of RVF - transmission, symptoms, treatment still limited.

Avian influenza ("bird flu") - risk to humans if avian influenza crosses species barrier; high- and low-virulence forms; transmission and attempts to control it; symptoms in humans; risks from H5N1 virus strain; problems of trying to create a vaccine with constantly evolving new strains.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) - caused by a type of coronavirus; near-pandemic in China in 2002; transmission and symptoms; three tests used for diagnosis (ELISA, immunofluorescence assay, PCR); treatment using antipyretics; need for isolation of patients.

Language

English

Country

Australia

Year of release

2008

Year of production

2008

Uses

AS/A2 students upwards

Subjects

Biology; Medical sciences

Keywords

Creutzfeldt Jakob disease; diseases; epidemiology; microbiology; viruses; Avian Flu; prions; zoonotic diseases; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)

Distribution Formats

Type

DVD

Format

Region 2 PAL

Price

£35.00

Availability

Sale

Duration/Size

28 minutes

Year

2008

Production Company

Name

Video Education Australasia

Web

http://www.vea.com.au External site opens in new window

Notes

Acquired by ClickView.

Distributor

Name

Boulton-Hawker Films Ltd

Email

sales@boultonhawker.co.uk

Web

http://www.boultonhawker.co.uk/ External site opens in new window

Phone

01449 616 200

Fax

01449 677 600

Address

Combs Tannery
Stowmarket
Suffolk
IP14 2EN

Notes

Distributor of over 400 DVDs and videos for use in teaching at GCSE level and above. Particularly strong in science-based subjects which the company used to produce themselves, but now sources from the USA, Canada and Australasia. Titles cover the subject areas of biology, business studies, careers, chemistry, child development & the family, citizenship, design & technology/food technology, English, geography/ecology, home economics, ICT, maths, media studies, PE/sport studies, physics and PSHE. Sale with free preview.