1. Preventing the Spread of Disease
In this lesson, you will Learn About…
How to protect yourself from pathogens.
How to avoid spreading pathogens to others when you are sick.
Habits that can help you stay healthy.

2. Preventing the Spread of Disease
The Vocabulary term in this lesson is:
Hygiene.
Click the term to display its definition.

3. Stop Pathogens from Spreading
Although you cannot see the pathogens that surround you, you can defend yourself against them.
Good personal hygiene and other healthful habits can help you stay well.
Keeping your environment clean is also an important part of preventing the spread of pathogens.
Healthful habits include eating nutritious foods and getting enough physical activity and rest.

4. Protect Yourself
Avoid taking risks with your health. Here are some guidelines to protect yourself:
Avoid close contact with people who are ill, especially during the contagious period of a disease.
Do not share eating utensils, dishes, glasses, bottles, or cans.
Wash your hands often, especially when you have been around someone with a contagious disease.
Other guidelines include the following:
Keep hands away from the mouth, nose, and eyes.
Take precautions against known factors that may cause disease, such as ticks.
Follow safe practices in handling, preparing, and storing food to avoid foodborne illnesses.
Wipe counters and tables with warm, soapy water and dispose of garbage properly to keep pathogens from spreading.
Be sure to wash hands before handling food and after using the bathroom, playing with a pet, handling garbage, or touching any other obvious source of germs.

5. Handwashing
Frequent handwashing will help keep pathogens from entering your body.
When to Wash
Always wash your hands
before handling or eating
food.
What to Use
Wash with hot,
soapy water. Consider
buying liquid soap.
How to Wash
First, wet your hands under warm running water and apply soap. Then, rub your hands together vigorously, and scrub all surfaces for at least 15 seconds. Finally, rinse well and dry your hands, using a clean or disposable towel.
Click to display the steps that describe handwashing.
Here is additional information concerning handwashing:
Use a brush to scrub under nails. Be sure to carry moist towelettes or a small bottle of waterless hand sanitizer if going to a place where there would not be access to soap and water.
If using a public rest room, turn the faucet off with a paper towel. Also use a paper towel when turning the doorknob to avoid touching germs after washing hands.

6. Protect Others
To avoid spreading of pathogens to others, do the following:
If you are ill, stay home from school during the contagious period of the disease, and avoid close contact with other people. Wash your hands frequently.
Cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze, and turn your head away from others. Use tissues and dispose of them properly.
Explain the ways to protect others using the following points:
If a tissue is not handy, turn the head and cough or sneeze into the crook of the elbow. That way a person will be less likely to transfer pathogens to everything he or she touches. Wash hands immediately afterwards or as soon as possible.
Click to continue with other ways to protect others.

7. Protect Others (cont’d.)
Get medical treatment if you need it. Delaying a visit to the doctor may allow your condition to worsen while increasing the chances that you will spread pathogens to others.
When you take a prescribed medication, follow the directions and your physician’s orders carefully. Take the entire cycle of prescribed medication. Do not stop taking it just because you feel better.
Encourage other people to follow wise health practices.
Ask students why it is important for a person to take the entire cycle of prescribed medicines, even if he or she feels better. Correct any misconceptions.
Ask volunteers for ideas on how to encourage others to follow wise health practices.

8. Develop a Healthy Lifestyle
These healthful habits are important
weapons in the fight against pathogens:
Eating a balanced diet.
Participating in regular physical activity.
Getting enough rest.
Bathing or showering daily.
Avoiding harmful behaviors such as using tobacco, alcohol, or other drugs.

9. Develop a Healthy Lifestyle (cont’d.)
You can do even more to help your body stay healthy:
When you are sick, avoid strenuous activity.
Be sure that you are immunized against diseases for which a vaccine exists.
Learn to manage stress.
Get regular health screenings.
Explain the health tips on the slide using the following points:
When sick, avoid strenuous activity—allow the body to use its energy to fight the infection.
Be sure to be immunized against diseases for which a vaccine exists. If unsure which immunizations is needed, ask a doctor or a school nurse.
Learn to manage stress. Stress makes a person vulnerable to illness if one does not find ways to avoid it or deal with it effectively.
Get regular health screenings. Cooperate with health care providers—follow recommended instructions to recover from illness.

10. Reviewing Terms and Facts
Define the term hygiene.
Hygiene means cleanliness.
Click to show the correct answer.

11. Reviewing Terms and Facts
List three ways to protect yourself against communicable diseases.
Avoid close contact with people who are ill.
Do not share eating utensils, dishes, glasses, bottles, or cans.
Wash your hands often.
Click to show the correct answer. Other answers may include the following:
Keep hands away from the mouth, nose, and eyes.
Take precautions against known factors that may cause disease.
Follow safe practices in handling, preparing, and storing food.
Wipe counters and tables with warm soapy water and dispose of garbage properly to keep pathogens from spreading.

12. Thinking Critically
Why do you think it is important to wash your hands after playing with a pet?
Sample answer: The animal may carry pathogens, which can be transmitted if they are not removed.

13. Chapter Review

14. Reviewing Terms and Facts
_____ are organisms that are so small that they can be seen only through a microscope.
Germs
Click to show the correct answer.

15. Reviewing Terms and Facts
The ______________ is a secondary circulatory system that helps the body fight pathogens and maintain its fluid balance.
lymphatic system
Click to show the correct answer.

16. Reviewing Terms and Facts
Yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes is a sign of
influenza.
mononucleosis.
hepatitis.
strep throat.
Click to show the correct answer.

17. Reviewing Terms and Facts
Yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes is a sign of
influenza.
mononucleosis.
hepatitis.
strep throat.

18. Reviewing Terms and Facts
Chlamydia is an STD that may affect the reproductive organs, urethra, and anus.
True
False
Click to show the correct answer.

19. Reviewing Terms and Facts
Chlamydia is an STD that may affect the reproductive organs, urethra, and anus.
True
False

20. Reviewing Terms and Facts
It is important to avoid contact with others during the contagious period of a disease.
True
False
Click to show the correct answer.

21. Reviewing Terms and Facts
It is important to avoid contact with others during the contagious period of a disease.
True
False

22. Thinking Critically
How can understanding the ways in which pathogens are spread help people stay healthy?
Sample answer: When people know how germs are spread, people can avoid contaminating others and can act to avoid being contaminated. They can also minimize the risk of being infected by taking the appropriate measures if they think they have been exposed.
Accept all reasonable responses.

23. Thinking Critically
Explain how lymph, the lymph nodes, and lymphocyte work within the lymphatic system to fight against specific pathogens.
Sample answer: The fluid lymph travels through the lymph nodes, which are organs designed to filter out bacteria and viruses before they can enter into the blood stream. Lymph also contains the lymphocytes and macrophages, which first identify the antigens and then destroy them.

24. Thinking Critically
The following diseases are caused by pathogens: a cold, the flu, mononucleosis, and TB. What are the risks for contracting each disease?
Sample answer: Cold and flu viruses are spread by direct and indirect contact. Mononucleosis can be spread through kissing and by sharing drinking glasses or eating utensils. TB is spread when infected people cough or sneeze droplets into the air.

25. Thinking Critically
Why do you think people often postpone seeing a doctor if they think that they might have an STD?
Reponses will vary.

26. Thinking Critically A friend tells you that she’s planning
to go to school even though she has the flu. What would you tell her?
Responses should focus on convincing the friend to stay at home so she does not spread the illness to others. She will also get better faster if she rests at home.

27. Vocabulary Review Hygiene means cleanliness.
Click the slide to go to the Vocabulary Review home page.