Science Solutions: Class 9th

Chapter 14

IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
Question : State any two conditions essential for good health.
Solution: Good health of a person depends on
a) Social environment.
b) Public cleanliness.
c) Good economic conditions and earnings.
d) Social equality and harmony.

Question :State any two conditions essential for being free of disease.
Solution: The conditions essential for being free of diseases are:
a) Having good food (balanced diet)
b) Personal and public hygiene maintenance

Question:Are the answers to the above questions necessarily the same or

different? Why?
Solution:
The answers are not same all the time, because the meaning of health varies from
person to person.
Forexample, good health for a dancer may be being able to stretch his body
into difficult but graceful positions. On the other hand, good health for a
musician may mean having enough breathing capacity in his/her lungs to
control his/her voice. There is one similarity in both the cases. If the
conditions essential for good health are maintained, then the chance of
getting any disease is zero.

Question : List any three reasons why you would think that you are sick and
ought to see a doctor. If only one of these symptoms were present, would you still
go tothe doctor?Whyor why not?
Solution:
When there is a disease, its symptoms and signs appear. These symptoms
may be headache, cough, loose-motions, wound with pus, etc. These symptoms
indicate disease but do not tell what the disease is. So, it is advisable to go to the
doctor to diagnose any signs of a disease on the basis of these symptoms. The
doctor will get laboratory tests done, if required, for the confirmation of a
particular disease.

Question:In which of the following case do you think the long-term effects on
your health are likely to be most unpleasant?
• If you get jaundice,
• If you get lice,
• If you get acne.
Why?
Solution:
Our body will not be effected by lice and acne very much. But in case of Jaundice,
there will be severe long lasting effects. For example:
a) High temperature, headache and joint pains.
b) Feeling of nausea and vomiting.
c) Initiating rashes.
The patient will suffer from poor health and will recover by taking the suitable
treatment and complete bed rest.

Question : Why are we normally advised to take bland and nourishing food
when we are sick?
Solution:
All the normal functions of the body get disturbed in case of illness. So, a
nourishing food is required, which is easily digestible and contains all the
nutrients. This is the main reason that bland and nourishing food is advised
to take duringsickness.

Question : What are the different means by which infectious diseases are
spread?
Solution:
Infectious diseases spread by different means. These are:
a) Through air: An infected person when sneezes or coughs releases droplets
containing germs which infect another healthy person through air and
microbes enter a new body. Examples: common cold, pneumonia and
tuberculosis.
b) Through water: contaminated water will infect many people and make
them ill. Example: cholera, amoebiasis, hepatitis spread through water.
c) Through sexual contact: Some diseases like AIDS and syphilis, etc., are
transmitted by sexual contact. Other than this, AIDS virus also spread
through blood, infected syringes, infected mother to her baby during
pregnancy and through breast feeding.
d) Through vectors: There are some animals which act as intermediaries or
vectors for a particular diseases. The vectors carry diseases from infected
person to the healthy person. For example, mosquito spread malaria causing
organism in humans, while sucking their blood.

Question : What precautions can you take in your school to reduce the incidence of
infectious diseases?
Solution:
To prevent the incidence of infectious diseases in school following
 precautions can be taken:
a) Avoid contact of students suffering from air borne diseases like common
cold, cough, eye, flu, etc.
b) By checking the availability of clean drinking water in school.
c) Clean surroundings in school will not allow the growth and
multiplication of vectors.
d) Starting childhood immunisation programmers in schools.

Question : What is immunisation?

Solution:
Immunisation is a process of administration (injecting) of vaccine into a
healthy person in order to develop immunity against a disease. Immunity
means the ability of a body to recognize, destroy and eliminate external disease
causing agents.

Question : What are the immunisation programmes available at the nearest health
centre in your locality? Which of these diseases are the major health problems in
your area?
Solution:
The following immunisation programme is available at the nearest health centre
in our locality
a) Immunisation for infants-OPT, BCG, polio, measles and MMR.
b) For children-Typhoid, TT. DT, small pox and TAB.
c) For pregnant woman- TT and hepatitis-B.
The diseases like typhoid, polio, measles, tetanus are the major health problems in our
locality. To prevent these diseases, our government have initiated expanded
immunisation programme all over the country.

EXERCISE
Question 1: How many times did you fall ill in the last one years? What were the
illnesses?
(a) Think of one change you could make in your habits in order to avoid
any of/most of the above illnesses.
(b) Think of one change you would wish for in your surroundings in order to
avoid any of/most of the above illnesses.
Solution:
I fell ill twice in the last one year. The disease, I first suffered from was
diarrhea and secondary the dengue fever.
(a) The changes I brought in my habits after suffering from these disease to
protect myself in near future are:-
(i) I will always drink clean, pure water and wash hands before eating
anything.
(ii) I will live in clean surroundings where disease spreading vectors could
not multiply. For example, mosquitoes.
 (b) Pure drinking water should be available always. The intake of impure
water is the main cause of many infectious diseases.

Question 2:A doctor/nurse/health-worker is exposed to more sick people than others

in the community. Find out how she/he avoids getting sickherself/himself.
Solution:
A doctor/nurse/health-worker take following precautions to avoid become sick
themselves
(i) Get immunisation done against all the infectious diseases.
(ii) Take balanced diet (rich in proteins especially) to strengthen their
immune system.
(iii) Dispose off blood samples, urine or stool, sputum, etc., carefully.
(iv) Wear masks while diagnosing mouth or chest infections.
(v) Clean their hands and wear gloves even while doing minor surgeries.

Question 3: Conduct a survey in your neighbourhood to find out what the three most
common diseases are. Suggest three steps that could be taken by your local authorities
to bring down the incidence of these diseases.
Solution:
I conducted a survey in my neighbourhood and found following three most
common diseases which are: Diarrhea, Typhoid Fever and Cholera.
(i) I will live in clean surroundings where disease spreading vectors could
not multiply. For example, mosquitoes.
(ii) Pure drinking water should be available always. The intake of impure
water is the main cause of many infectious diseases.
(iii) Proper disposal of waste and sewage.

Question 4: A baby is not able to tell her/his caretakers that she/he is sick.What
would help us to find out
(a) That the baby is sick?
(b) What is the sickness?
Solution:
(a) Symptoms to help in finding out that the baby is sick are:
 Redness of eyes
 Drooping of eyes
 Continuous crying
 High temperature of body.
(b) Signs which help to indicate the sickness in baby
 High fever. Headache. Muscular pain. Feeling of shivering and cold
indicate malaria.
 Loose motions. Stomach pain indicate diarrhea.
 Redness and persistent rubbing of eyes indicate eye flu.
 Pale skin. Yellow urine. Yellowing of eyes indicate jaundice.
 Doctors suggest for laboratory tests. If there is fever with no other
 symptoms tofind out the kind of sickness.

Question 5: Under which of the following conditions is a person most likely to

fall sick?
(a) When she is recovering from malaria.
(b) When she has recovered from malaria and is taking care of someone
suffering from chicken pox.
(c) When she is on a four-day fast after recovering from malaria and is
takingcare of someone suffering from chicken pox. Why?
Solution:
In condition(c), a person is most likely to fall sick. The reason's are:
(a) In case of malaria, body becomes weak and loss of body fluids occur. In
this condition, it she takes four days fast, her recovery from malaria related
weakness will not occur and she will become weaker.
(b) Her immune system is already weak due to malaria and if she takes care of
someone suffering from chicken pox, there is high probability that she
may also suffer this diseases.

Question 8: Under which of the following conditions are you most likely to fall
sick?
(a) When you are taking examinations.
(b) When you have travelled by bus and train for two days.
(c) When your friend is suffering from measles. Why?
Solution:
In condition (c), Chance of falling sick are maximum.
Measles is an infectious viral disease of young children which spreads through
nasal or throat discharge. In. contact of a friend suffering from measles can
cause you sick.

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