Food irradiation is the process of exposing food to ionizing radiation.

to destroy microorganisms, bacteria, viruses, or insects that might be present in the food. Further applications include sprout inhibition, delay of ripening, increase of juice yield, and improvement of re-hydration. Irradiated food does not become radioactive, but in some cases there may be subtle chemical changes.

Informations and examples:

Irradiation is a more general term of deliberate exposure of materials to radiation to achieve a technical goal (in this context "ionizing radiation" is implied). As such it is also used on nonfood items, such as medical hardware, plastics, tubes for gas pipelines, hoses for floor heating, shrink-foils for food packaging, automobile parts, wires and cables (isolation), tires, and even gemstones. Food irradiation acts by damaging the target organism's DNA beyond its ability to repair. Microorganisms can no longer proliferate and continue their malignant or pathogenic activities. Spoilage-causing microorganisms cannot continue their activities. Insects do not survive, or become incapable of reproduction. Plants cannot continue their natural ripening processes. The energy density per atomic transition of ionizing radiation is very high; it can break apart molecules and induce ionization, which is not achieved by mere heating. This is the reason for both new effects and new concerns. The treatment of solid food by ionizing radiation can provide an effect similar to heat pasteurization of liquids, such as milk. However, the use of the term "cold pasteurization" to describe irradiated foods is controversial, since pasteurization and irradiation are fundamentally different processes.

Examples of common human diseases caused by viruses include the common cold, influenza, chickenpox and cold sores. Many serious diseases such as ebola, AIDS, avian influenza and SARS are caused by viruses. The relative ability of viruses to cause disease is described in terms of virulence. Other diseases are under investigation as to whether they too have a virus as the causative agent, such as the possible connection between human herpes virus six (HHV6) and neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis and chronic fatigue syndrome. There is controversy over whether the borna virus, previously thought to cause neurological diseases in horses, could be responsible for psychiatric illnesses in humans. Viruses have different mechanisms by which they produce disease in an organism, which largely depends on the viral species. Mechanisms at the cellular level primarily include cell lysis, the breaking open and subsequent death of the cell. In multicellular organisms, if enough cells die the whole organism will start to suffer the effects. Although viruses cause disruption of healthy homeostasis, resulting in disease, they may exist relatively harmlessly within an organism. An example would include the ability of the herpes simplex virus, which causes cold sores, to remain in a dormant state within the human body. This is called latency and is a characteristic of the herpes viruses including Epstein-Barr virus, which causes glandular fever, and varicella zoster virus, which causes chickenpox. Most people have been infected with at least one of these types of herpes virus. However, these latent viruses might sometimes be beneficial, as the presence of the virus can increase immunity against bacterial pathogens, such as Yersinia pestis. On the other hand, latent chickenpox infections return in later life as the disease called shingles. Some viruses can cause life-long or chronic infections, where the viruses continue to replicate in the body despite the host's defence mechanisms. This is common in hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus infections. People chronically infected are known as carriers, as they serve as reservoirs of infectious virus. In populations with a high proportion of carriers, the disease is said to be endemic. In contrast to acute lytic viral infections this persistence implies compatible interactions with the host organism. Persistent viruses may even broaden the evolutionary potential of host species.

Herpes virus

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)

Classification and external resources

The Red ribbon is a symbol for solidarity with HIV-positive people and those living with AIDS.

Symptoms

Main symptoms of AIDS.

X-ray of Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP). There is increased white (opacity) in the lower lungs on both sides, characteristic of PCP

The symptoms of AIDS are primarily the result of conditions that do not normally develop in individuals with healthy immune systems. Most of these conditions are infections caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites that are normally controlled by the elements of the immune system that HIV damages. Opportunistic infections are common in people with AIDS.[12] These infections affect nearly every organ system. People with AIDS also have an increased risk of developing various cancers such as Kaposi's sarcoma, cervical cancer and cancers of the immune system known as lymphomas. Additionally, people with AIDS often have systemic symptoms of infection like fevers, sweats (particularly at night), swollen glands, chills, weakness, and weight loss.[13][14] The specific opportunistic infections that AIDS patients develop depend in part on the prevalence of these infections in the geographic area in which the patient lives.
Tumors and malignancies

Kaposi's sarcoma

Patients with HIV infection have substantially increased incidence of several cancers. This is primarily due to co-infection with an oncogenic DNA virus, especially Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) (also known as human herpesvirus8 [HHV-8]), and human papillomavirus (HPV).[29][30] Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is the most common tumor in HIV-infected patients. The appearance of this tumor in young homosexual men in 1981 was one of the first signals of the AIDS epidemic. Caused by a gammaherpes virus called Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpes virus

(KSHV), it often appears as purplish nodules on the skin, but can affect other organs, especially the mouth, gastrointestinal tract, and lungs. High-grade B cell lymphomas such as Burkitt's lymphoma, Burkitt's-like lymphoma, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), and primary central nervous system lymphoma present more often in HIV-infected patients. These particular cancers often foreshadow a poor prognosis. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) or KSHV cause many of these lymphomas. In HIV-infected patients, lymphoma often arises in extranodal sites such as the gastrointestinal tract.[31] When they occur in an HIV-infected patient, KS and aggressive B cell lymphomas confer a diagnosis of AIDS.

Bacteria
This article is about the microorganisms. For the genus, see Bacillus. For other uses, see Bacteria (disambiguation). Bacteria
Fossil range: Archean or earlier Recent

Scanning electron micrograph of Escherichia coli bacilli

The bacteria are a large group of single-celled, prokaryote microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals. Bacteria are ubiquitous in every habitat on Earth, growing in soil, acidic hot springs, radioactive waste, water, and deep in the Earth's crust, as well as in organic matter and the live bodies of plants and animals. There are typically 40 million bacterial cells in a gram of soil and a million bacterial cells in a millilitre of fresh water; in all, there are approximately five nonillion (51030) bacteria on Earth,forming much of the world's biomass. Bacteria are vital in recycling nutrients, with many steps in nutrient cycles depending on these organisms, such as the fixation of nitrogen from the atmosphere and putrefaction. However, most bacteria have not been characterized, and only about half of the phyla of

bacteria have species that can be grown in the laboratory. The study of bacteria is known as bacteriology, a branch of microbiology. There are approximately ten times as many bacterial cells in the human flora of bacteria as there are human cells in the body, with large numbers of bacteria on the skin and as gut flora.The vast majority of the bacteria in the body are rendered harmless by the protective effects of the immune system, and a few are beneficial. However, a few species of bacteria are pathogenic and cause infectious diseases, including cholera, syphilis, anthrax, leprosy and bubonic plague. The most common fatal bacterial diseases are respiratory infections, with tuberculosis alone killing about 2 million people a year, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa.[6] In developed countries, antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections and in agriculture, so antibiotic resistance is becoming common. In industry, bacteria are important in sewage treatment, the production of cheese and yoghurt through fermentation, as well as in biotechnology, and the manufacture of antibiotics and other chemicals. Once regarded as plants constituting the class Schizomycetes, bacteria are now classified as prokaryotes. Unlike cells of animals and other eukaryotes, bacterial cells do not contain a nucleus and rarely harbour membrane-bound organelles. Although the term bacteria traditionally included all prokaryotes, the scientific classification changed after the discovery in the 1990s that prokaryotes consist of two very different groups of organisms that evolved independently from an ancient common ancestor. These evolutionary domains are called Bacteria and Archaea

Hand washing

Hand cleaning station at the entrance of the Toronto General Hospital

Food safety

Terms
Foodborne illness HACCP Critical control point

Critical factors
FAT TOM pH Water activity (Wa)

Pathogens
Clostridium botulinum E. coli Hepatitis A Norovirus

Parasitic infections
Blastocystis Cryptosporidiosis Trichinosis

Hand washing for hand hygiene is the act of cleansing the hands with or without the use of water or another liquid, or with the use of soap, for the purpose of removing soil, dirt, and/or microorganisms. Medical hand hygiene pertains to the hygiene practices related to the administration of medicine and medical care that prevents or minimizes disease and the spreading of disease. The main medical purpose of washing hands is to cleanse the hands of pathogens (including bacteria or viruses) and chemicals which can cause personal harm or disease. This is especially important for people who handle food or work in the medical field, but it is also an important practice for the general public. People can become infected with respiratory illnesses such as influenza or the common cold, for example, if they don't wash their hands before touching their eyes, nose or mouth. Indeed, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has stated: "It is well-documented that one of the most important measures for preventing the spread of pathogens is effective hand washing." As a general rule, handwashing protects people poorly or not at all from droplet- and airborne diseases, such as measles, chickenpox, influenza, and tuberculosis. It protects best against diseases transmitted

through fecal-oral routes (such as many forms of stomach flu) and direct physical contact (such as impetigo). In addition to hand washing with soap and water, the use of alcohol gels is an effective form of killing some kinds of pathogens.

Salavaria, Marlo C. BsnII MICRO-PARA

Mrs. Luz Mallorca

Instructor

Transmition of pathogens:
Pathogens are microorganisms such as viruses, bacteria, protozoa, and fungi that cause disease in humans and other species. Pathogen transmission involves three steps: escape from the host, travel to, and infection of the new host. Pathogen transmission occurs in several ways, usually dependent on the ecology of the organism. For example, respiratory pathogens are usually airborne, while pathogens of the digestive tract tend to occur in food or water. Epidemiologists group pathogen transmission into two general types of contact, direct and indirect, within which there are several mechanisms. Pathogen transmission by direct contact takes place when an infected host transmits a disease directly to another host. The pathogens that travel this way are extremely sensitive to the environment and cannot be outside of the host for any length of time. For example, pathogens that cause sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are transmitted via blood, semen, or saliva. Some pathogens responsible for STDs include Tremonema palidum (syphilis), Neisseria gohorrhoeae (gonorrhea), and the pathogen that causes Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome or AIDS, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). The viruses responsible for hemorrhagic fever, such as Ebola, are also transmitted by direct contact via the blood.

Pathogens out! Clean to be safe!