chap 5 Flashcards
(42 cards)
Pathogenicity
is the ability of a pathogen to produce a disease by overcoming the defenses of the host.
Virulence
is the degree or extent of pathogenicity.
To cause disease an organism must:
Enter into the host
Adhere to tissue within the host
Cause damage to the host in some manner
The specific route by which a particular pathogen enters the body.
Skin
Mucous Membranes
The Parenteral Route
PORTALS OF ENTRY
I-Skin:
The largest organ of the body. When unbroken, it is an effective barrier for most microorganisms.
Most microorganisms cannot penetrate intact skin
- may gain entrance through openings in the skin
- may enter hair follicles or sweat ducts
- some fungi infect the skin itself.
Respiratory Tract:
microorganisms that are inhaled with droplets of moisture and dust particles gain access to the respiratory tract.
Exp of respiratory diseases: Common cold, Flu, Tuberculosis, Whooping cough, Pneumonia, Diphtheria, Measles
Microorganisms enter the gastrointestinal tract by ingestion via
contaminated food, water, and contaminated fingers or hands
- Most microbes that enter the G.I. tract are destroyed by HCL & enzymes of stomach or bile & enzymes of small intestine, those that survive cause disease.
Ex: Salmonellosis, Shigellosis, Cholera, Ulcer, Botulism, poliomyelitis, hepatitis A, typhoid fever, amebic dysentery, giardiasis
Genitourinary Tract:
portal of entry for pathogens that are contracted sexually. Some microbes that cause sexually transmitted infections (STIs) may penetrate an unbroken mucous membrane. Others require a cut or abrasion of some type.
Examples of STIs are HIV infection, genital warts, chlamydia, herpes: Herpes simplex II, Syphilis-Treponemapallidum, and Gonorrhea-Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
Conjunctiva:
delicate membrane that covers the eyeballs and lines the eyelids
Ex: Trachoma :Chlamydia trachomatis
Parenteral route:
Some microorganisms can gain access to tissues by direct penetration (inoculation)through the skin and mucous membranes in bites, injections, punctures, scratches, surgery, splitting of skin due to swelling or dryness, and other wounds.
Ex: HIV, the hepatitis viruses,
Many organisms can cause infections only when they gain access through their specific portal of entry.
1. Streptococcus pneumoniae If inhaled can cause pneumonia If it enters the G.I. Tract, no disease 2. Salmonella typhi If it enters the G.I. Tract: it can cause Typhoid Fever if present on the skin »»no disease
The virulence of a microbe or its toxin can be expressed by
LD50 & ID50
LD50 -
Lethal Dose of a microbes toxin that will kill 50% of the inoculated hosts
ID50 -
Infectious dose required to cause disease in 50% of the inoculated hosts
Bacillus anthraciscan cause infection via three different portals of entry.
The ID50 through the skin (cutaneous anthrax) is 10 to 50 endospores;
The ID50 for inhalation anthrax is inhalation of 10,000 to 20,000 endospores; and
The ID50 for gastrointestinal anthrax is ingestion of 250,000 to 1,000,000 endospores
b-A study of Vibrio choleraeshowed that the ID50 is 108 cells; but if stomach acid is neutralized with bicarbonate, the number of cells required to cause an infection decreases significantly.
Adherence
once entry has been accomplished, most microorganisms have mechanisms of host attachment,
It is a necessary step in pathogenicity.
For bacterial pathogens, successful adherenceis usually a necessary prerequisite for virulence and even infection.
Such microbial structures as glycocalyx and fimbriae (i.e., attachment pili) are involved in adherence.
Exp:Streptococcus mutans
a bacterium that plays a role in tooth decay, attaches to the surface of teeth by its glycocalyx: an enzyme, produced by S. mutans, converts glucose into a sticky polysaccharide called dextran which forms the glycocalyx .
Other MO Actinomyces have fimbriae that stick on the gycocalyx of S. mutans
.The combination of S. mutans, Actinomyces, and dextran make up dental plaque and contribute to dental caries
Biofilms:
Microbes have the ability to come together in masses, cling to surfaces, and take in and share available nutrients. Biofilms are these communities, which constitute masses of microbes and their extracellular products that can attach to living and nonliving surfaces.
Examples of biofilms include the dental plaque on teeth, the algae on the walls of swimming pools, and the scum that accumulates on shower doors.
How bacterial pathogens penetrate host defenses?
B. Components of the Cell Wall
Proteins in the cell wall can facilitate adherence or prevent a pathogen from being phagocytized.
M protein of S. pyogenes(cell surface and fimbriae)
However, some microbes can reproduce inside phagocytes.
M. tuberculosis
How bacterial pathogens penetrate host defenses?
B. Components of the Cell Wall
Proteins in the cell wall can facilitate adherence or prevent a pathogen from being phagocytized.
M protein of S. pyogenes(cell surface and fimbriae)
However, some microbes can reproduce inside phagocytes.
M. tuberculosis
How bacterial pathogens penetrate host defenses?
C. Enzymes
The virulence of some bacteria is thought to be aided by the production of extracellular enzymes (exoenzymes) and related substances. These chemicals can digest materials between cells and form or digest blood clots, among other functions.
1. Leukocidins
Enzymes that are toxic to leukocytes especially exotoxins of pathogenic Staphylococci and Streptococci that destroy leukocytes by lysis.
2. Hemolysins
They cause the destruction of red blood cells-important producer of this enzyme = Clostridium perfringes3. Coagulases are bacterial enzymes that coagulate (clot) the fibrinogen in blood. Fibrinogen, a plasma protein produced by the liver, is converted by coagulases into fibrin, the threads that form a blood clot. The fibrin clot may protect the bacterium from phagocytosis and isolate it from other defenses of the host.
Coagulases are produced by some members of the genus Staphylococcus. However, some staphylococci that do not produce coagulases are still virulent. (Capsules may be more important to their virulence.)
Bacterial kinases are
bacterial enzymes that break down fibrin and thus digest clots formed by the body to isolate the infection.
One of the better-known kinases is fibrinolysin (streptokinase), which is produced by streptococci as such as Streptococcus pyogenes.
Hyaluronidase
is another enzyme secreted by certain bacteria, such as streptococci, clostridia that cause gas gangrene.
This action is thought to be involved in the tissue blackening of infected wounds and to help the microorganism spread from its initial site of infection.