Question

The number of human deaths is often used as a standard for ranking human diseases in terms of im- portance. What, if anything, is wrong with this clas- sification scheme?

2. Infectious diseases have obvious deleterious effects on the infected individual. Are there other conse- quences that reach beyond the infected person to his or her family and to society as a whole?

3. The United States and most developed countries have long had a medical community that focuses on therapy rather than prevention. Why is this the case, and under what conditions might this emphasis be appropriate? Why are scientists arguing for a return to a prevention-based health care system?

4. In our classification of emerging or reemerging in- fectious diseases, we treated antibiotic-resistant bac- teria and E. coli O157:H7 as new disease sources. Make the case for and against considering a member of an established disease-causing species that acquires a new trait a new disease entity. What is the signifi- cance of such changes in bacterial pathogens?

5. The bacteria that cause cholera and tuberculosis are much more infectious than the so-called ‘‘opportun- ists.’’ Why, then, are opportunists currently much

more of a health concern in developed countries than cholera and tuberculosis?

Answer 1