Slide 2:
• Bacteria are vital to maintaining the living world. Bacteria
can take on the role of producer or decomposer.
• Decomposers - return nutrients to the soil.
– Without decomposers nutrients like phosphorous and
nitrogen would be locked up in the dead bodies of organisms.
• Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria enrich plants.
– Nitrogen is a component of protein.
– Bacteria transform atmospheric nitrogen into an absorbable form, ammonia.
• Human Uses of Bacteria
– Used in manufacturing of food.
• Yogurt, olives, pickles, sauerkraut …
– Biotechnology - Used to make drugs such as insulin. Importance of Bacteria
Slide 3:
• By Air - airborne water droplets
– sneezing, coughing, spitting - Most airborne diseases affect
the respiratory tract
– Ex. TB, scarlet fever, whooping cough
• By Sexual Contact
– Ex. Syphilis
• By Insects
– Examples
• Lice- typhus
• Ticks- Lyme disease
• Fleas- carry bacteria that causes the Plague or “Black Death”
• By Touch
– Ex. Leprosy, Staph infections
• By Contaminated Food/Water
– Ex. Cholera, Salmonella and E-coli Bacteria Spreads
Slide 4:
DISEASE
Tooth decay
Lyme disease
Tetanus
Tuberculosis
Salmonella food poisoning
Pneumonia
Cholera Common Diseases Caused by Bacteria PATHOGEN
Streptococcus mutans
Borrelia burgdorferi
Clostridium tetani
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Salmonella enteritidis
Streptococcus pneumoniae
Vibrio cholerae PREVENTION
Regular dental hygiene
Protection from tick bites
Current tetanus vaccination
Vaccination
Proper food-handling practices
Maintaining good health
Clean water supplies
Slide 5:
• Pathogen - a disease causing agent.
• Bacteria are harmful because they damage their host's tissues by:
• a direct attack on the host's cells.
• releasing poisonous toxins.
• Heat and cold help protect food from bacterial contamination.
• Pasteurization is a common industrial practice that involves heating the product to a temperature that
kills most bacteria. Bacteria & Disease
Slide 6:
• Sanitation.
• Clean water.
• Sewage treatment plants.
• Managed waste removal.
• Personal Hygiene.
• Wash your hands frequently!
• Vaccines.
• Diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough.
• Antibiotics.
• Antibacterial drugs such as penicillin. Controlling Bacterial Diseases
Slide 7:
• Bacteria reproduce quickly.
– They mutate.
• Antibiotics kill most of the harmful bacteria.
• The few that survive will reproduce and are resistant
to the antibiotic.
• People cause Antibiotic Resistance
– Overuse of antibacterial products.
– Overuse of antibiotics, not finishing the full course of treatment.
– Use of antibiotics in our food supply - cattle, poultry etc. Problems with Antibiotic Resistance