SSC CGL Biology · Microbiology and Disease
Pathogens and Diseases
Which diseases come from bacteria, viruses or protozoa, the organism behind each, bacterial shapes, how faeco-oral diseases spread, and diseases with the organ they hit, their other names and vaccines.
Why this matters
Eleven questions in the bank: two from the 2023 shifts and nine from the 2024 shifts, ten of them EASY. They match a disease to its cause or its organ, so two tables carry the page.
Concept 1 of 2: What causes each disease
Definition
By cause:
- Bacteria: typhoid (Salmonella), cholera (Vibrio), tuberculosis (Mycobacterium), diphtheria, tetanus.
- Viruses: dengue, influenza, common cold, and rotavirus diarrhoea in children.
- Protozoa: malaria (Plasmodium).
- Worms: Ancylostoma is the hookworm; Taenia the tapeworm, Ascaris the roundworm, Wuchereria the filarial worm.
Bacterial shapes: bacillus rod, coccus sphere, vibrio comma, spirillum spiral.
Faeco-oral diseases spread by the five Fs: flies, fingers, fomites, food and fluids.
Practise this conceptself-check · 3 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
Example 1 · Microbiology and Disease · Pathogens and Diseases
Malaria is not bacterial
Concept 2 of 2: Diseases, organs, other names and vaccines
Definition
Organs:
- Alzheimer's disease: the brain.
- Diphtheria: the nose and throat (a bacterial infection).
- Gonorrhoea: the reproductive tract.
- Mumps: the salivary glands.
Other names and vaccines:
- Tetanus (Clostridium tetani) is lockjaw.
- Jaundice is icterus: yellow skin and eyes from excess bilirubin.
- The Salk vaccine (1952) is the inactivated (killed) polio vaccine.
Home remedy: tulsi for cold and cough; arjun for the heart, jamun seeds for diabetes.
Practise this conceptself-check · 3 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
Example 2 · Microbiology and Disease · Pathogens and Diseases
Diphtheria hits the throat, not the glands
Summary — formulas & gotchas at a glance
A revision cheat-sheet for the formulas and gotchas above. Click any concept name to jump back to its full explanation.
Reference tables (2)
What causes each disease4 rows
Watch out for (2)
- Malaria is not bacterial→ What causes each disease
- Diphtheria hits the throat, not the glands→ Diseases, organs, other names and vaccines
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