1 Introduction and basic bacteriology Flashcards
What is Purpura Fulminans?
Small capillary clots due to intra vascular coagulation, leading to tiny spots of necrosis all over the body. Simultaneously, bleeds occur all over the place because clotting factors are used up by all the tiny clots.
Which organisms are the major causes of Purpura Fulminans?
Neisseria meningitidis, Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus aureus
Which spherical bacterium is named for its golden color?
Staphylococcus aureus
What treatment is used to neutralize superantigen exotoxins, and why is it so rarely used?
intravenous immunoglobulin; it is rarely used in part because it is so expensive ($30K)
What is drotrecogin-alpha, and what is it used to treat?
activated Protein C; it is used to slow clotting to prevent purpura
What illness can develop when a patient has a respiratory viral infection complicated by Staph aureus?
Post-influenza TSS
Which bacterium is the most significant cause of serious infections and deaths due to infections in the United States?
Staphylococcus aureus
Which bacteria constitute the top two causes of bloodstream infections?
1) Staphylococcus epidermidis 2) Staphylococcus aureus
Which bacterium is the number 1 cause of osteomyelitis?
Staphylococcus aureus
T or F: Staph aureus is the number 1 cause of pneumonia.
F; it is the number 2 cause of pneumonia
Thucydides Syndrome is now recognized as what illness?
post-influenza Staph TSS
How many americans die yearly due to seasonal influenza?
3K to 50K
Which two proteins are essential in influenza virus for infecting (i.e. entering and exiting) a host cell?
Hemagglutinin and Neuraminidase
Which protein allows entry of the influenza virus into an epithelial cell, and what does it bind to on the host cell to initiate this process?
Hemagglutinin binds to sialic acid residues on epithelial cells to allow entry of the virus
What needs to occur in order to activate hemagglutinin?
a serine protease needs to cleave the HA and expose the sialic acid binding site on HA
Which protein is required in order for influenza virus to exit a host cell?
neuraminidase