Bio 158: Life Science – A Human Approach La Salle University
"The Killers All Around"
by M.D. Lemonick et al.
Time 144(11):62-69. Sept. 12, 1994
Available on line at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,981430-1,00.html
Link available on course web page: Resources and Assignments (http://alpha.lasalle.edu/~mcphilli/158assignments.htm
Questions for Guided Reading
1. What are some of the infectious diseases that are currently emerging or re-emerging in the United States?
2. Describe some general mechanisms by which microbes make humans sick.
3. Forty years ago we could routinely treat diseases such as cholera, tuberculosis, staph infections and strep infections with
antibiotics. Now the same treatments are often ineffective. Why?
4. How did Jim Henson (of Muppets fame) die?
5. How do bacteria become resistant to antibiotics?
6. Why do bacteria evolve much faster than humans?
7. Human behavior often increases the rate at which bacterial populations gain resistance to antibiotics. Explain.
8. Which is the better mechanism to deal with viral diseases: antibiotics or vaccines? Explain.
9. What is the difference between a virus and a bacterium?
10. The AIDS virus (HIV) is more of an evolutionary success than the Ebola virus. Explain.
11. How do environmental changes help microbes move from animals to humans?
12. What measures can be taken to reduce the risk to humans from infectious diseases?
