Opportunistic Diseases
Opportunistic Diseases
Grade Level (s): 6th & 7th grades
Subject (s): Health, Science, & Language Arts
Learner Outcomes: Each student
should be able to:
1. define opportunistic diseases.
2. list and explain the effects of several diseases.
3. explain why people without HIV rarely have these diseases.
Duration of Lesson: One to three hours
Materials: Mini Lecture
Glossary
Computer with TV, projector or large monitor
Various web sites
Butcher paper
Various colors of markers
Tape
Technology Tools/ Courseware: Computer
hooked to the internet, a slide maker program
(Power Point or Presentations) , word processing software
Teacher Notes: Students need
to understand these diseases, not live in fear of them. Outside resources
can be used on reports. Teachers should always preview the web sites
first.
The glossary is only for the teacher. The teacher then can share with the
students any of
the vocabulary he or she feels is necessary.
PWA's - people with AIDS
Procedures: 1. Have students
continue writing in their journals using a word processor.
2. Mini Lecture: AIDS is the result of infection causes by
virus (HIV). This virus weakens and
sometimes destroys the immune system. When a person with HIV develops
AIDS, that persons body has lost most of its ability to attack disease
agents
directly.
Any person that has a damaged immune system, regardless of the cause, can
have opportunistic infections. Other conditions
where this happens are
cancer or transplanted organs either because
the drugs used to treat them or
the diseases themselves suppress the immune system.
You do not have to have AIDS for your immune system to be damaged or to
contract some opportunistic diseases. They are more serious in people
with AIDS. The following is a list of some opportunistic
diseases:
1. Systemic Herpes: sores that heal very slowly. These are found
especially on the genitals, the anus, and the
mouth.
2. Candidiasis: commonly called thrush. It appears as white patches
in
the mouth that can extend down the esophagus.
3. Cytomegalovirus: a common cause of blindness among people with
AIDS. This can also cause severe lung infection.
4. Tuberculosis (TB): a bacterial infection of the lungs and sometimes
other organs.
5. Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC): caused by bacteria that
resembles TB, it appears in people whose T-cell counts
are below 100
and causes fever, weight loss, abdominal pain, and
diarrhea.
6. Recurrent Pneumonia: a lung infection causing fever, shortness
of
breath, productive cough.
7. Cryptococcosis: a fungal infection that can cause pneumonia
or
meningitis and inflammation of the brain.
8. Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP): PCP is caused by a
fungus. It
makes breathing difficult and causes fever.
It is the most common
opportunistic infection among PWA's in the U.S.
Doctors can treat
PCP with antibiotics and in some cases prevent this
type of
pneumonia.
9. Kaposi's sarcoma (KS): This is a type of cancer of the blood
vessels.
Those who have AIDS and contract this disease get
red or purplish
spots (lesions) on the skin of the legs or the
anus. This form of KS
can appear as lesions in the lymph nodes, inside
the lungs, along the
digestive tract, or in the mouth This cancer is less common now.
10. Lymphomas: any of a group of disease characterized
by progressive
enlargement of lymphoid tissue resulting from the proliferation of
malignant lymphoid cells.
Modifications: The mini lecture can
be made into a slide show using the computer and a screen or large
monitor. If these are not available a chalkboard
will do as well.
Make sure all special
education students have a regular education partner.
Enrichment Activities: 1.
Take the students to the computer lab (if you have to, put 3 students to
a
computer) and have them use one search engine
to find information on one
opportunistic disease.
2. Using the web sites that follow, find information on one
opportunistic disease
(signs, symptoms, treatment, etc.).
http://www.ama-assn.org/special/hiv/hivhome.htm
http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/
http://www.ryanwhiteorg/oarw.htm
3. Give oral report on their disease.
4. Place 5 pieces of butcher paper on the wall
with one opportunistic disease on
each piece. Divide the class into groups and
give each a marker. Instruct the
students that this game operates as a relay. Each
student must go to the wall
and place a piece of information about their disease
on paper. When the first
student is finished he or she runs back to give the
marker to the next person
in line so they can do the same thing.
The class will then check each disease for correct information.
The first team to finish with correct information wins.
5. Have students go to a predetermined web site and answer
these questions
about an opportunistic disease
that they have chosen by lot:
A. Define the disease.
B. What is the relationship between the disease they have been given
and HIV?
C. What are the symptoms and signs of the disease they have been
given?
D. How is this disease diagnosed?
E. How is this disease treated?
F. How is this disease prevented?
This activity can be used as an individual or cooperative learning activity.
Evaluation /Assessment:
| Conduct in lab | 20% |
| Content of information for specific diseases | 20% |
| Oral report | 20% |
| Cooperation with group | 20% |
| Outside Resources | 20% |
WV
Instructional Goals and Objectives: Health:
Relationships: 6.17, 7.14
Science:
Scientific Attitudes/Habits of Mind: 6.10, 7.13
Science, Technology, & Society: 6.76, 6.77, 6.78
Computer Technology: 6.96, 7.87, 7.92
Nature of Science: 7.6
Science Themes & Subject Matter: 7.27
Language Arts:
Writing: 6.52, 6.54, 7.51, 7.52, 7.56, 7.57
Language: 6.88, 6.89, 7.88, 7.91
Computer Technology: 6.154, 6.155, 6.156, 6.157, 7.164,
7.165
References: Center
for Disease Control
The American Red
Cross
Created By: Nancy
Russell
Deborah Oxley
Karen Miller
Princeton Middle School
Date Created: June
9, 1999