Human Health and Disease: common misconceptions

If your child says… “Every disease comes from germs.”

Ask together

How would killing germs replace a missing nutrient?

What’s true

Genes, nutrition and surroundings also affect health; illness may begin before visible symptoms.

If your child says… “The parasite completes its whole life inside us.”

Ask together

Where does the parasite reproduce sexually?

What’s true

The parasite needs both hosts and reproduces sexually inside female Anopheles mosquitoes.

If your child says… “Skin is our only built-in defence.”

Ask together

What protects against germs that reach the stomach?

What’s true

Stomach acid kills many swallowed germs, while mucus and protective cells also provide built-in defence.

If your child says… “Vaccines just supply antibodies.”

Ask together

Which route leaves cells ready to respond when that antigen returns?

What’s true

Plasma cells formed from B cells produce antibodies; transferred antibodies create no immune memory.

If your child says… “Pollen causes allergies, so it must be a germ.”

Ask together

Does a strong defence reaction prove that its trigger causes infection?

What’s true

An allergy can be an excessive response to a normally harmless substance.

If your child says… “Sharing lunch spreads HIV.”

Ask together

Which of those transmission routes occurs simply through eating together?

What’s true

HIV can pass through infected blood, sexual contact or mother-to-child transmission, not ordinary shared meals.

If your child says… “Every tumour is cancer that spreads.”

Ask together

Does a local growth automatically show invasion or spread?

What’s true

Benign tumours remain local; malignant tumours invade and may spread.

If your child says… “Ending addiction only takes willpower.”

Ask together

What could determination alone leave untreated if stopping causes withdrawal?

What’s true

Dependence can cause withdrawal, so recovery may need medical care and support.