Exam 1 Lecture 3 Flashcards

1
Q

Two steps to interrupt infection disease

A

Isolation and Identification

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2
Q

First step of infection is to:

A

Colonize

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3
Q

What happens after a pathogen colonizes a replicative niche?

A

Multiplies, and once a significant amount of multiplication occurs, this can cause an infection

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4
Q

How does the body respond to multiplication of a pathogen?

A

Immune response is initiated to cause fever, involving 3 cytokines: IL-1, IL-6, and TNF-alpha

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5
Q

Diacrisis

A

dia = through; krisis = a judgment

Synonym for diagnosis

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6
Q

Diagnosis

A

the determination of the nature of a disease

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7
Q

What is the first step to formulating a diagnosis?

A

History! It is important to ask plentiful and specific questions that can be used to formulate an accurate hypothesis.

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8
Q

Examples of questions to ask during a history

A
What is the problem? (chief complaint)
What makes it worse?
Did you travel?
What do you eat?
What are your personal habits?
(etc.)
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9
Q

Once you have the patient’s history, what do you do with it?

A
  1. Form a hypothesis
  2. Perform physical exam
  3. Run some imaging/tests using information gathered
  4. Prepare treatment plan
  5. Repeat and refine hypothesis in between these steps as necessary
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10
Q

Etiological agent

A

viable microorganism, or its toxin, that may cause disease in humans

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11
Q

Why is identification of etiological agents important?

A
  • determine nature of disease
  • predict course and potential outcome(s)
  • tailor therapy: apply specific interventions to a clearly defined problem
  • exclude non-infectious causes of symptoms
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12
Q

Sterile specimen example

A

urine (depending on how it is collected) AND blood (assuming that the patient is free of bloodborne pathogens like HIV)

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13
Q

Non-sterile site with microbiota example

A

Colon

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14
Q

Why is it important to identify specimens?

A

to develop accurate hypothesis

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15
Q

Methods of examination

A

Bright field, dark field, and fluorescence microscopy

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16
Q

2 types of fluorescence microscopy

A

direct and indirect, both using fluorophore

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17
Q

3 types of cultures

A

nutrient, selective, indicator

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18
Q

nutrient culture

A

grows just about everything, particularly designed to grow organisms that are fastidious

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19
Q

selective culture

A

allows for the growth of certain pathogens; useful for sorting pathogen from normal microbiota

20
Q

indicator

A

useful for revealing particular aspects of its physiology

21
Q

Why is it important to know about incubation?

A

different pathogens have different requirements for optimal propagation

22
Q

True or false: temperature and presence of oxygen are often signals to alter gene expression in pathogens

A

True (also presence of CO2!)

23
Q

Conventional identification relies on:

A

9 log amplification; ability to isolate single cells to identify the pathogen correctly

24
Q

Gross phenotype

A

look at colony phenotype on the plate

25
Q

Why is important to identify biochemical characteristics in pathogens?

A

They are often virulence determinants

26
Q

Catalase

A

produced by pathogens that can cleave hydrogen peroxide

–> specifically, catalase is used by pathogens that use O2 to respire

27
Q

Urease

A

urea is cleaved to form NH3 and CO2 to act as a buffer in stomach acid
–> example: H. pylori releases NH3 to buffer gastric acidity and colonize the gastric mucosa

28
Q

Coagulase

A

fibrinogen is cleaved to form a fibrin clot, preventing white blood cells from entering the colonization/infection site

  • -> example: S. aureus uses the enzyme coagulase to create a fibrin coat, and avoid detection from the immune system
  • blood clot = roadblock!
29
Q

What is an example of an antigenic structure?

A

Streptococcal polysaccharide

30
Q

What are 6 tools to identify microbes?

A
  1. Gross phenotype
  2. Biochemical characteristics
  3. Antigenic structures
  4. Toxin production
  5. Nucleic acid sequences
  6. Flow of information
31
Q

What is serological detection?

A

The identification of host immunoglobulins (antibodies) that are specific to recognizing antigens from pathogens

32
Q

How is the humoral immune response measured?

A

It is measured by titer (higher dilution capable of producing a positive test result)

33
Q

True or False: At the acute disease stage, antibody titer is the lowest

A

False. Antibody titer increases early on during infection.

34
Q

Distinguish between acute disease and convalescent disease

A

Serological detection of infection gives us information on whether the patient is currently or was recently infected (acute disease) OR if the patient is completely recovered (convalescent disease)

35
Q

True or False: There is a 10-fold increase in titer in acute vs. convalescent disease.

A

False. There’s a 4-fold increase in titer from the acute disease stage to the convalescent disease stage.

36
Q

We can also evaluate results from serological detection by looking at the ratio of ___/___. Higher ___ is an indicator of primary infection, while higher ___ is an indicator of secondary infection.

A

IgM/IgG
IgM
IgG

37
Q

What are the various phases in the graph of the primary immune response?

A

Latent period, Log phase, Plateau phase, and Decline phase

38
Q

True or False: A very robust IgG response is characteristic of a second infection by the same antigen.

A

True

39
Q

Can a dead pathogen cause infectious disease?

A

No, it needs to be able to replicate…the dead pathogen is advantageous to the development of vaccines

40
Q

What is molecular detection and what organisms is it used for?

A
  • Molecular detection is using nucleic acids to identify infection
  • It is used for organisms that are difficult or impossible to cultivate
41
Q

What is an example of a pathogen that is difficult to cultivate?

A

Tuberculosis

42
Q

What is an example of a pathogen that is impossible to cultivate?

A

Mycobacterium leprae

43
Q

List 2 technological advantages of using sequencing

A
  1. Discover problems not previously identifiable

2. Speed, sensitivity, specificity

44
Q

List 3 drawbacks of using sequencing

A
  1. False-positive results due to contamination
  2. Contamination obscuring diagnosis
  3. Limited ability to assess properties of the pathogen
45
Q

What are some molecular detection techniques?

A
  1. PCR
  2. Traditional PCR + Sanger sequencing (dye terminator sequencing)
  3. Traditional PCR + melting curve analysis
  4. Next Generation Sequencing
46
Q

What are the requirements for sequencing platform?

A
  1. Accuracy for identification (taxonomy)
  2. Informative about phylogeny (study of evolution of the organism)
  3. Accurate evolutionary clock