CBSE Class 9 Answered

A disease can be treated either by reducing the effect of the disease or by killing the cause of the disease.

Every infectious disease shows some characteristic symptoms in the form of inflammation, fever or chills. In order to reduce the effect of a disease, one can take medicines. Medicines reduce the symptoms associated with the disease.

Symptom-directed treatment does not help to kill pathogens associated with the disease. Pathogenic microbes can be killed by using medicines or antibiotics. The drug used against different groups of pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, protozoa, fungi etc. would be different. The drug or the medicine should kill the pathogen, without affecting the metabolism of the host. Antibiotics can be used to cure bacterial infections as these chemical compounds block the important biochemical pathways of bacteria.