Chapter 4- Overview of infectious diseases Flashcards
Who developed the germ theory of disease in the 19th century?
louis Pasteur and Robert Koch.
Dr. Koch established which 4 criteria, known as Koch’s postulates- used to determine if a disease is attributatble to a particular organism?
- same pathogen must be found in all diseased individuals with the same sxs
- pathogen must be isolated from the individual with the disease and grown in a culture
- same disease must be induced in an experimental animal by transfer of cultured pathogen
- after the disease develops the same pathogen must be isolated from the experimental animal.
What was the first primitive vaccine?
in 1976 used to prevent smallpox.
The habitat in which infective agents live and multiply is called a reservoir. There are 4 types, name them
- symptomatic individuals
- carriers
- animals
- water, food, soil, air, fomites
When does infection occur?
when there is entry and multiplication of a microorganism or parasite in the body of a host.
Define “vector”
an insect that injects a microbe through a bite, but can refer to any creature that transports the infective organism to the host.
Microbes must do what to the host in order for a disease to occur?
invade, infect and disrupt the cells of the host.
What methods are used to identify organisms causing infection?
- direct detection methods
- Culture and sensitivity
- immunodiagposis
- Nucleic acid probes
What are direct detection methods?
use the microscope to view microbe obtained in a tissue, orexcreta sample.
- stains used to see organisms. gram stain (bacteria) and acid-fast stain (mycobacterium)
What is culture and sensitivity detection?
cultivating viruses and microbes in order to obtain enough of the organism to identify it.
- uses medium of living cells cultivated by single layer of living mammalian cels.
- this method also used to test efficacy of specifed antibioics
What is immunodiagposis?
testing the presence of antibodies, the in serum, that are produced by the immune system in reaction to an infection.
- Hep testing, H pylori testing.
what is Nucleic acid probes ?
theory: every species has unique gene sequencing.
identify and direct detection of the infective organism in clinical specimens.
- monitory response to therapy in some diseases (Hep C/HIV)
- PCR used to amplify a single DNA molecule into many molecules.
Name 4 infectious disease-causing organism
bacteria
viruses
fungi
parasites
What is a bacteria?
single cell organisms. Good bacteria (form symbiotic relationships) and bad bacteria.
Classification of disease-causing bacteria is based on structural and physiological characteristics. Name them (4)
- Cocci: spherical
- bacilli: rod shape
- spirochetes: spiral
- vibrios: comma shaped
What are the prefixes used in grouped bacteria to describe their structural characteristics
- diplo (paired)
- strepto (chains)
- staphylo (clusters)
Bacteria can also be classified by their dye reaction to staining techniques. Explain.
gram stains form due to a reaction of the cell wall of the bacterium with the stain.
If the wall absorbs the stain well and is purple they’re called gram-possitive bacteria.
If not well absorbed and are pink coloured they are called gram negative.
- The resulting stain classification affects which abx will work better on the bacteria.
Bacteria can also be classified by their need for oxygen to survive. Define the 3 types.
anaerobic bacteria: cant survive in the presence of oxygen
Aerobic bacteria must have oxygen to survide.
facultative anaerobic: live with or without oxygen
What are antibiotics?
substances produced by microorganisms that kill other microorganisms.
- natural byproducts of cell metabolism.
What is penicillin?
First production and isolation occurred in 1940.
works against gram +ve bacteria
such as staphylococci and streptococci- two types of bacteria that large a large percentage of human infections.
What are common virus characteristics?
- non-living d/t no cellular structure
- fully developed virus has a protein coat surrounding a nucleic acid- this protects and facilitates host transfers.
- some have an envelope of lipids, proteins and carbs around their protein coats. They’re called enveloped viruses otherwise its considered a naked virus.
- require metabolic machinery of infected cell to reproduce. (uses host to copy itself)
- contain either DNA or RNA, but never both.
How are viruses categorized?
by the type of nucleic acid they contain
- DNA ex: herpes, smallpox, and papovavirus
- RNA ex: HIV, hepatitis C, rabies.
Why are there fewer drugs available to treat viruses than bacteria?
- hard to find drug that affects virus without affecting the host cells. viruses use the biochemical pathways of the host to reproduce.
- delay/difficulty in diagnosis. Usually identified once the virus has reach latter phases of the disease.
- many viral illnesses are relatively benign and self-limited.
What is fungi?
yeast and molds
they’re aerobic and require organic nutrients to live.
100,000 types, and 100 are infectious to humans
What saprophytes?
fungi that live on decaying organic matter.
What fungi are quite difficult to treat? why?
systemic fungal infections.
anti-fungal drugs have serious AE.
Give an example of a fungi treatment?
Amphotercin B,
Axole compounds can be used in some situations and are less toxic.
What are parasites?
organism that cause disease in humans but are not bacteria, viruses or fungi. (everything else)
Need to invade a human body to complete their life cycle.
No great treatments
What are the two basic types of parasites causing disease?
- protozoa - single cell creatures that multiply within a host.
- helminths (worms) - multicellular creatures. 3 types: roundworms, tapeworms, and flukes or flatworms.