Immunity and Defects in Mechanisms of Defense Flashcards
Define host
organism being “infected”
ex: human
Define agent
a factor whose presence (excessive or absent) is essential for the occurrence of a disease or other adverse health outcome
Define pathogen
organism that causes disease or other adverse health outcome
Define colonization
act of establishing a presence without damage
ex: commensal (normal) flora
Define infection
invasion of the body tissues of a host by an infectious agent causing disease or other adverse health outcome
Define communicability
ability to spread an agent from one individual to others
- communicability differs between agents
- depends on port of entry (ex: direct contact, inhalation, ingestion)
Define infectivity
- the ability of an agent to cause infection (to invade and multiply in the host)
- measured as proportion of persons exposed to an infectious agent vs those who become infected
- lessened by memory/vaccination
Define virulence
- ability of an infectious agent to cause severe disease
- measured as proportion of person with the disease who become severely ill or die
Define pathogenicity
- ability of an agent to cause disease or other adverse health outcome
- success depends on communicability. infectivity, and virulence
Define immunogenicity
- ability to induce an immune response
- depends on number of exposures
Define antigen
- substances that react with molecules of the immune system (ex: antibodies, receptors on B and T cells)
- recognized as foreign by the human body
- on infectious agents, noninfectious substances from the environment, drugs, vaccines, transfusions, and transplanted tissues
- stimulate the production of antibodies
- epitopes = part of antigen that antibody attaches to
- immunogen = bind to receptors and induce immune response → all immunogens are antigens but not all antigens are immunogens
Define antibody
- any of a variety of proteins in the blood that are produced in response to an antigen as an immune response
- Y shaped
- produced by B cells
- circulate in blood and bind to antigens on infectious agents
List the order of pathogenicity
(1) communicability
(2) infectivity
(3) virulence
Potential local/specific signs and symptoms of infection
- diarrhea
- rash
- convulsions
- hemorrhage
- pneumonia
Potential systemic/nonspecific signs and symptoms of infection
- fever
- myalgia (muscle pain)
- headache
- lethargy (inflammation + sickness behavior)
Define culture
propagation of microorganisms outside of the host
Define serology
measures serum antibodies in the host
- after exposure to an infectious agent the body produces antibodies
- antibody titer concentration rises
- IgM = rises and falls during acute phase
- IgG = remains elevated after the acute phase
Steps of disease course
(1) infection
(2) incubation (latent) period → clinical threshold
(3) prodromal stage
(4) invasion or acute illness period
(5) convalescence (recovery) → or disease is fatal; critical threshold
(6) resolution
Incubation (latent) period
- from initial exposure to onset of first symptoms
- pathogens undergoing initial colonization
- can reach clinical threshold
Prodromal stage
- occurrence of initial symptoms (often mild) → before full development
- pathogens continue to multiple
Invasion or acute illness period
- immune and inflammatory responses triggered
- pathogens multiply rapidly and invade further
Convalescence (recovery)
- recovering from illness
- usually immune and inflammation systems remove pathogens and symptoms decline OR disease becomes fatal
Define clinical threshold
- signs and symptoms develop
- cells damaged
- pathogen has evaded innate immune system
Define subclinical disease
- symptoms don’t develop
- immune system handles pathogen
List infection control measures
environmental measures
- waste disposal
- water treatment and contamination prevention
- food safety
- insect (vector) control → safe insecticides
hygiene
- hand washing
- face masks
- social distancing
- quarantine
- isolation