1
What types of environmental hazards impact the health of people?
INFOGRAPHIC 5.1
Infectious agents that cause disease are called ____________.
pathogens
What route of exposure represents the main infectious disease threat to humans?
Water- and vector-borne diseases
Disease caused by malnutrition
Direct transmission from human to human
Disease caused by eating contaminated food
A
Environmental hazards can be divided into physical, chemical, and biological hazards. Give an example of each of these hazards. Describe a scenario in which exposure to one of the hazards could make a person more vulnerable to another type of hazard.
Answers may vary
Physical hazard: flooding; chemical hazard: water pollution; biological hazard: vector-borne infectious disease
If a person’s lungs are damaged by exposure to air pollution, they might be more likely to succumb to a respiratory infection.
2
How do the fields of public health and environmental health help improve the health of human populations? What environmental factors contribute to the global burden of disease?
INFOGRAPHICS 5.2 AND 5.3
Which of the following is NOT true of environmental health?
It is a branch of public health.
It focuses only on how natural disasters impact health.
It focuses on health risks from the natural and human-built environment.
It focuses on human health, not on the health of other species in the environment.
B
Zoonotic diseases:
are increasing in frequency worldwide.
come mainly from domesticated animal species.
are diseases that spread between humans and plant species.
All of the above:
A
How do the focus and goal of public health programs differ from those of individual health care providers?
Public health care seeks to improve the health of the population as a whole and will focus on those factors that cause the most health problems, allowing for the fact that some health problems will likely not be addressed. Individual health care providers seek to address the health problems of each person and will not ignore problems just because they are uncommon.
3
What types of pathogens cause disease? Specifically, what factors facilitate the spread of Guinea worm disease, and what steps are needed to eradicate it?
INFOGRAPHICS 5.4 AND 5.5
Which of the following can be pathogens?
Bacteria and viruses
Fungi
Protozoa and worms
All of the above
D
How is the increase in standing water in cities linked to increased human health hazards?
It increases habitat for vectors such as mosquitoes.
It reduces the amount of water available for irrigation.
It increases the chance for flooding.
None of the above; standing water is not a health hazard.
A
Guinea worm disease is still found in South Sudan. What can be done to eradicate it, and why has this not already been done?
Eradicating it requires a multi-pronged approach: educating people so that they don’t re-infect water sources, providing water filters and killing the copepod host with pesticide application. The Sudan is experiencing violent conflict which makes it difficult to do all these things.
4
How do factors that affect human health differ between more and less developed nations?
INFOGRAPHIC 5.6
Compared to those in high-income nations, people in low-income developing nations:
are more likely to die from infectious diseases.
develop more genetically based diseases.
do not develop “lifestyle” diseases.
are less affected by environmental hazards.
A
Compare the leading causes of death in low-, middle-, and high-income countries. Why do these differences exist?
People in low-income are more likely to die of infectious disease; this is largely due to lack of clean drinking water and proper sanitation. They also have less access to the medical care and education than populations in developed countries. In high-income nations, lifestyle diseases such as cardiovascular disease are more common — this is related to obesity and lack of exercise but also to better care for infections. Many middle-income nations are experiencing a transition — higher incomes allow people to adopt western lifestyles which bring with them obesity related diseases, but because many modifiable environmental risks have yet to be adequately addressed, infectious diseases still take a toll.
5
What can be done to reduce environmentally mediated health problems? How close are we to eradicating GWD?
TABLE 5.1 AND INFOGRAPHIC 5.7
Which one of the following factors reduces our ability to address many environmental health problems?
scientists don’t understand how most infectious diseases are spread.
Most environmental health problems are in rural areas, far from health professionals.
People in developed countries don’t care about the health of those in developing countries.
Affected regions may not have the political will or financial means to address environmental problems.
D
Which action below would help reduce the health problem that has the largest percentage of its occurrence attributed to environmental conditions?
Provide solar ovens to low-income areas.
Provide better sanitation and clean water.
Improve diets to help people lose weight.
Use cleaner-burning fuels indoors.
B
Identify possible interventions that could decrease health problems associated with air pollution. (Smoking, pollutants due to burning solid fuels indoors without adequate ventilation, and vehicle exhaust are the most common air pollutants that impair health.)
Policy intervention: establish enforceable air quality standards
Education intervention: teach people about the dangers of smoking, or how to construct well-ventilated stoves
Financial support: provide solar ovens (also requires education) or funds to improve emissions controls on vehicles
97