Exam 4: Ch 24

Question 1

selective toxicity

Answer 1

Characteristic of antimicrobial drugs to exhibit a higher level of toxicity against infecting microbes than against host cells

Question 1

antimicrobial drugs

Answer 1

Compound used primarily to treat or prevent microbial infections of the body; includes antibacterial, antifungal, antiprotozoal, and antiviral drugs

Question 2

antibiotic

Answer 2

Compound usually but not always derived from a microorganism that inhibits the growth of other microorganisms; often encompasses synthetic compounds used for the treatment of bacterial, fungal, and protozoal diseases

Question 3

bacteriostatic drug

Answer 3

Antibacterial medication that prevents the replication of bacteria but does not directly cause bacterial death

Question 4

bactericidal drugs

Answer 4

Antibacterial medication that directly kills bacteria

Question 5

β-lactam class

Answer 5

Group of antibiotics, all of which possess a β-lactam ring as a common structural feature

Question 6

penicillin-binding protein (PBP)

Answer 6

Bacterial transpeptidase required for joining together the subunits that make up peptidoglycan of bacterial cell walls

Question 7

nucleoside analog

Answer 7

Antiviral structural analog of nucleosides capable of inhibiting DNA or RNA synthesis by incorporation into growing nucleic acid chains by viral polymerases; prevents the addition of further nucleotides, thus interfering with viral nucleic acid replication

Question 8

susceptibility testing

Answer 8

Controlled in vitro testing done to establish the sensitivity of a particular microorganism to various antimicrobial agents

Question 9

minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC)

Answer 9

Lowest concentration of a drug at which no growth of the microbe being tested occurs in vitro after a standardized period of time; gives a measure of the drug susceptibility of a microbe

Question 10

resistance (R) plasmid

Answer 10

Plasmid that confers the ability to resist antimicrobial activity of one or usually several drugs

Question 11

efflux pump

Answer 11

Membrane protein complex used to transport various compounds, such as antimicrobial agents, directly out of the microbial cell; found naturally in many bacteria and fungi

Question 12

basic reproduction number (R0)

Answer 12

Average number of new infections caused by an infected individual in a population of fully susceptible individuals

Question 13

effective reproduction number

Answer 13

Number of new infections (new cases) arising from currently infected persons (existing cases) over a specific period of time during an epidemic

Question 14

attack rate

Answer 14

Special incidence rate calculated during an outbreak and usually covering a short period of time that gives the proportion of ill individuals in an exposed population; used to estimate how many more individuals are expected to become ill

Question 15

immunization

Answer 15

Process of generating immunological memory to prevent infection and/or disease through the introduction of antigen(s), such as microbes or their components, into the body

Question 16

attenuated vaccine

Answer 16

Vaccine composed of a live but weakened, or less virulent, version of a microbe that is completely or nearly devoid of pathogenicity yet retains the ability to generate protective immunity in the host

Question 17

inactivated vaccine

Answer 17

Vaccine composed of whole cells or viruses that have been physically inactivated by heat or chemical treatment yet retains the ability to generate protective immunity in the host; see also killed vaccine

Question 18

killed vaccine

Answer 18

Vaccine composed of whole cells or viruses that have been physically inactivated by heat or chemical treatment yet retains the ability to generate protective immunity in the host; see also inactivated vaccine

Question 19

subunit vaccine

Answer 19

Vaccine composed of one or a select number of isolated antigens; not composed of whole cells or viruses; see also acellular vaccine

Question 20

nucleic acid vaccine

Answer 20

Vaccine composed of a cloned piece of DNA or mRNA; delivery into the cells of the body results in expression of the immunizing antigen encoded by the nucleic acid

Question 21

Vaccine failure

Answer 21

Development of disease in individuals despite having received vaccination; usually due to the failure of certain individuals to mount an effective immune response to an immunizing agent

Question 22

vaccine efficacy

Answer 22

Effectiveness of a vaccine measured by the average degree of protection it affords a population

Question 23

herd immunity

Answer 23

Protection from communicable disease of non-immunized, susceptible individuals in a population by immunization of a large proportion of the rest of the population

Question 24

herd immunity threshold

Answer 24

Critical proportion of a population required to be immunized to achieve herd immunity

Question 25

vaccine coverage rate

Answer 25

Proportion of individuals in the population that must be immunized to achieve herd immunity

Question 26

How do bacteria acquire resistance genes? Know several ways.

Answer 26

It is a process of natural selection facilitated through random mutations, recombination, and horizontal gene transfer.

Question 27

Bacteriostatic versus bactericidal

Answer 27

bacteriostatic prevents replication and bactericidal kills the microbes directly

Question 28

Two types of polio vaccines

Answer 28

Inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) and Attenuated, oral polio vaccine (OPV)

Question 29

Differences in efficacy of attenuated and subunit vaccines

Answer 29

attenuated vaccines contain live weakened versions of a pathogen, so they can somewhat replicate without much pathogenicity and allow your adaptive immune system to memorize and destroy it easily. subunit vaccines contain one or more antigens instead of whole cells or viruses.

Question 30

How do beta-lactam antibiotics work?

Answer 30

they inhibit peptidoglycan synthesis which is a key structural component of many bacterial cells.

Question 31

Why are drugs like trimethoprim specifically toxic to bacteria and not us?

Answer 31

it targets enzymes and pathways that bacterial cells use that our cells don’t