NATS 1670 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Emerging Infectious Diseases, Bubonic Plague, Antimicrobial Resistance

• School: York University
• Department: Natural Science
• Course: NATS 1670
• Professor: Mordechay Anafi

Document Summary

Lecture 1 emerging infectious diseases: from approx. 1900 to 1930, life expectancy increased. by approx 20% in developed countries: then, from 1950 to 2008, life expectancy almost doubled in north america, proportion of death due to infections diseases =high-income countries 6% (today), sub- Such as smallpox (300 million), bubonic plague (killed 2/3 of europe), and the spanish flu (50 million during ww1: we have 8 million microbial genes in our body. This outweighs the 20,000 human genes in our body: 10/1 ratio. Benefits of microbes: microbes turn inorganic molecules (nitrogen, co2) into organic compounds (e. g nucleic, amino acids, also help produce oxygen, most microbes contribute to our health. 3 reasons for increasing lifespans in the last 100+ years: better sanitation (washing hands, water treatment, clean hospitals), vaccines (completely eradicated smallpox since 1970s. , antibiotics (antibiotics kill indiscriminately, whereas vaccines are highly targeted. Antibiotics are used to treat severe infection, whereas vaccines prevent infections from ever becoming established. )