Entire populations have been wiped out by
diseases like bubonic plague, typhus, and cholera, because no one knew how
they were transmitted. Knowing that bacteria or viruses are the agents of
transmission is only one part of the solution, though—witness the famous
influenza epidemic in 1918 that killed 21 million people; we must also know
how to cure the disease or prevent it. This program shows how bacteria
multiply, distinguishes between those which are beneficial and those which
are inimical to the normal functioning of the body’s various systems, and
shows how invading bacteria trigger the body’s defense mechanisms so that
white blood corpuscles or antibodies are produced to destroy the invading
organism. The program also explains the differences between bacteria and
viruses, and the ways in which immunization serves to provide antibodies to
protect against future attack by bacteria or viruses. (20 minutes)
