Ch. 11 Flashcards
Pathogen
A microbe whose relationship with its host is parasitic and results in infection and disease.
Infectious-Disease
The disruption of a tissue or organ caused by microbes or their products
Pattern of a host-parasite relationship. (3 stages)
Contact,
Progresses to infection,
Results in disease
True Pathogens
Cause disease in healthy people with normal immune defenses.
Opportunistic Pathogens
Cause disease when a person’s immune defenses are compromised or when pathogens become established in a part of the body that is not normal to them.
The invasion and multiplication of a pathogen in the human host is referred to as an _____
Infection
Any deviation from the healthy state is called a _____
Disease
The virulence of a microbe is determined by its ability to:
- Establish itself in the host, and
2. Cause damage
A specific chemical product of microbes that is poisonous to other organisms.
Toxin
Exotoxins
Proteins with a strong specificity for a target cell, and extremely powerful, sometimes deadly effects. They generally affect cells by damaging the cell membrane and initiating lysis.
Endotoxins
A chemical called lipopolysaccharide, which is part of the outer membrane of gram-negative cell walls. Endotoxins have a variety of effects such as fever, shock, inflammation.
An extracellular enzyme that may cause damage to host tissues
Exoenzyme
When a disease can be identified by a certain complex of signs and symptom, it is termed a _____
Syndrome
The clinical term for blood infection
septicemia
When small numbers of viruses or bacteria are found in the blood, but are not necessarily multiplying.
bacteremia (presence of bacteria) or viremia (presence of viruses)
