Clinical Vocabulary

Question 1

Normal flora

Answer 1

Bacteria (etc.) that normally inhabit body. They are usually acquired shortly after birth and considered nonpathogenic except in the case of immunocompromised hosts. Some serve an important function such as production of vitamin K by the enterobacteriaceae in the gastrointestinal tract.

Question 2

Resident Flora

Answer 2

Bacteria (etc.) present majority of time may change with different stages of life.

Question 3

Transient Flora

Answer 3

Come and go, do not usually cause damage.

Question 4

Infection

Answer 4

presence of a microorganism (not normal flora) in or on the body may or may not result in clinical symptoms (disease).

Question 5

Infectivity

Answer 5

How frequently an agent is transmitted to a susceptible person.

Question 6

Disease

Answer 6

a change in health due to the infection, clinical manifestations.

Question 7

Endemic Disease

Answer 7

Present in a low but constant level in an area.

Question 8

Epidemic Disease

Answer 8

More cases than predicted within a certain community

Question 9

Pandemic Disease

Answer 9

Epidemic that spreads throughout the world.

Question 10

Pathogenesis

Answer 10

Capacity of a microorganism to cause infection.

Question 11

Virulence

Answer 11

Degree of pathogenicity, # of severe or fatal cases/total # of cases

Question 12

Virulence Factor

Answer 12

Any property of an organism that determines ability to cause infection and severity of infection. For example: Attachment, survival, escaping immune system, etc.

Question 13

Nosocomial infection

Answer 13

hospital acquired

Question 14

Community acquired

Answer 14

outside of hospital

Question 15

Communicable

Answer 15

spread from person to person

Question 16

Zoonotic

Answer 16

associated with or carried by animals

Question 17

Opportunistic Infection

Answer 17

an infection caused by a microorganism that does not usually cause a disease in a healthy individual. The patient is immunosuppressed or immunocompromised

Question 18

Chronic Disease

Answer 18

a disease that is long-lasting

Question 19

Recurrent Disease

Answer 19

a disease that relapses repeatedly, with periods of remission in between.

Question 20

Acute Disease

Answer 20

A disease with both a rapid onset a short duration

Question 21

Epidemiology

Answer 21

The study of mechanisms involved in the spread of diseases and other health-related problems within a population

Question 22

Etiology

Answer 22

the cause of the infection.

Question 23

Incidence of Disease

Answer 23

of new cases within a specified time

Question 24

Prevalence of Disease

Answer 24

Total # of cases in a population at a given time