Chapter 4

Question 1

nosocomial infections

Answer 1

infections acquired in a hospital or other medical facility, acquired during medical treatment, also acquired by staff members, increases patients chances of death

Question 2

Exogenous

Answer 2

caused by organisms that enter the patient from the environment (staff comes into patient room and passes cold to patient)

Question 3

endogenous

Answer 3

caused by opportunists among the patient’s own normal microflora (like when treatment causes another infection)

Question 4

Reservoirs

Answer 4

can be human, animal, or non living. Humans can have active infection that they can spread, or they can be carriers and spread . soil and water can also be reservoirs, contaminated by feces.

Question 5

Carrier

Answer 5

harbor infectious agent without having any observable clinical signs or symptoms

Question 6

Isolation

Answer 6

quarantine

Question 7

Direct contact

Answer 7

contact way of transmission, direct physical contact with touching (sexual infections, animal bites)

Question 8

Indirect contact

Answer 8

contact way of transmission, infection by contaminated surface (or fomite, an object/surface likely to carry infection - clothes and utensils) tetanus, ringworm, common cold

Question 9

Droplets

Answer 9

contact way of transmission, droplets from the reservoir that are often spread from coughing and sneezing. Transmit by entering another person by way of mouth or nose. Droplets can also land on surfaces, and if someone touches that surface and then their face they will get infected. Pneumonia, whooping cough, common cold, influenza.

Question 10

Vehicle

Answer 10

non-living carrier, waterborne, airborne, food borne

Question 11

Waterborne

Answer 11

poor water sanitization can lead to spread of disease like cholera and shigellosis

Question 12

Airborne

Answer 12

spread through air, chickenpox, tuberculosis, flu

Question 13

Portal of entry

Answer 13

Skin
- Sweat glands, mammary glands, through hair follicles, worms can bore through skin
Mucous membranes
- ex: Droplet with pathogen lands in mouth
Parenteral sites (injured tissue)
- ex: Droplet with pathogen lands in an open cut

Question 14

Portal of exit

Answer 14

Waste products
- Vomit, diarrhea, feces
Secretions
- Saliva (animal saliva too)
– Mono can be spread by kissing someone with mono
Blood and pus
- HIV can be spread when a needle touches the blood of someone with the disease
- Milk (breast milk)

Question 15

Herd immunity

Answer 15

getting vaccinated so that those who cannot receive the vaccination are safe

Question 16

Epidemiology

Answer 16

study of factors and mechanisms involving frequency and spread of diseases and other health-related problems within populations of humans, other animals, or plants

Question 17

Etiology

Answer 17

study of the cause of disease

Question 18

Incidence

Answer 18

number of new cases contracted within a set population during a specific period of time

Question 19

Prevalence

Answer 19

total number of people infected within the population at any time, includes both old and newly diagnosed cases (help us know how many supplies and hospital beds are available)

Question 20

Morbidity

Answer 20

the number of people who have had or have the disease (everyone who got better, everyone who still has it) in relation to total number of population

Question 21

Mortality

Answer 21

number of death to a disease in a population during a specific period in relation to the total population (if 20 people out of 100 die with a disease the mortality is 20%)

Question 22

Endemic

Answer 22

it is continually present in the population of a particular geographic area. Low number in cases, so it does not constitute a public health problem (flu, lice, seen all the time, can predict when they’re coming)

Question 23

Epidemic

Answer 23

when a disease suddenly has a higher-than normal incidence in a population. The morbidity and/or mortality rate increase, sometimes due to reluctance to immunize children. EX: tuberculosis in the United states, usually a problem stemming from immunization.

Question 24

Pandemic

Answer 24

when an epidemic spreads worldwide. In 1918 and 2009 the swine flu reached pandemic proportions. Covid. Worldwide can also entail just a few countries

Question 25

Sporadic

Answer 25

occur in a random and unpredictable manner, involving several isolated cases that pose no great threat to the population as a whole. Spikes and goes down, can have several peaks, opposed to epidemic. Cancers, alzheimers, tetanus

Question 26

Quarantine

Answer 26

separation of non healthy human or animal carriers from the general population when they have been exposed to a communicable disease. Prevent spread during the incubation period. This is why each floor in a hospital has a designated purpose.

Question 27

Immunization (like vaccines)

Answer 27

prevents spread of disease

Question 28

Bioterrorism

Answer 28

deliberate spread of disease.
- Gladiators dipping swords into rotting cadavers
- British giving natives blankets with smallpox
- Anthrax bombs used in WWII

Question 29

How can medical personal control transmission of a microbe to the host, What are the universal precautions?

Answer 29

Hand hygiene, masks, PPE, disinfection of environment, sharps containers