Chapter 13 Flashcards
True pathogens
Capable of causing disease in healthy persons with normal immune defenses
Opportunistic pathogens
Cause disease when the host’s defenses are compromised
Virulence
Describing the degree of pathogenicity
Virulence factor
Any characteristic or structure of the microbe that contributes to the infection or disease state
Portal of entry
Where a microbe enters the body; characteristic route
Exogenous
Originating from a source outside the body such as the environment or another person or animal
Endogenous
Already existing on or in the body from microbiota or a latent infection
STORCH
Syphilis, toxoplasmosis, other diseases, rubella, cytomegalovirus, and herpes simplex virus
Infectious dose
A minimum number that must be present for infection to proceed in most agents
Adhesion
Process where microbes gain a more stable foothold at the portal of entry
Phagocytes
White blood cells that can engulf pathogens and destroy them by means of enzymes and antimicrobial chemicals
Antiphagocytic factors
A type of virulence factor used by some pathogens to avoid phagocytes or to circumvent some part of the phagocytic process
Leukocidins
Substances that are toxic to white blood cells
Exoenzymes
Disrupt the structure of tissues
Toxigenicity
The power to produce toxins
