Module 7: Infectious Disease
10 dot points across 3 inquiry questions, in syllabus order. Each dot point has a focused answer, with exam-style questions and worked answers where available.
Inquiry Question 1: How are diseases transmitted?
Causes of infectious disease. Covers prions, viruses, bacteria, protozoa, fungi and macroparasites, with a named example for each and the structural features markers expect.
Modes of transmission. Covers direct transmission, indirect transmission (airborne, waterborne, food-borne) and vector-borne transmission, with a named example for each and the public-health implications.
Pasteur and Koch. Covers Pasteur's swan-neck flask experiment, Koch's anthrax and tuberculosis work, the four Koch's postulates, their limitations, and the impact of germ theory on modern medicine.
Pathogen adaptations. Covers structural and biochemical adaptations for entry into hosts, immune evasion and transmission between hosts, with named examples (influenza, malaria, cholera, TB) and worked exam answers.
Inquiry Question 2: How does a plant or animal respond to infection?
Innate (non-specific) immunity in animals. Covers the first line of defence (skin, mucous membranes, chemical barriers), the second line (phagocytosis, inflammation, natural killer cells, fever), and how these set up the adaptive response.
Adaptive (specific) immunity, the third line of defence. Covers humoral immunity (B cells, plasma cells, antibodies), cell-mediated immunity (helper and cytotoxic T cells), antigens and MHC antigen presentation, clonal selection, memory cells, and the primary versus secondary response.
Plant defences. Covers the waxy cuticle, bark, stomatal closure, callose deposition, phytoalexins and the hypersensitive response, with a named Australian example (jarrah and Phytophthora cinnamomi).
Inquiry Question 3: How can the spread of infectious diseases be controlled?
Pharmaceutical control of infectious disease. Covers antibiotic and antiviral mechanisms, the evolution of antibiotic resistance, vaccination types, and the herd immunity threshold with named examples.
Disease control strategies. Covers hygiene, quarantine, vaccination programs, public health campaigns, and the role of the WHO, with named examples at each scale and a frank assessment of effectiveness.
HSC Biology Module 7: the contemporary application of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander protocols in developing medicines. Real Australian examples (smokebush, Kakadu plum, tea tree, Jarlmadangah Burru painkiller), plus ICIP, free prior informed consent and benefit sharing.