Infection, Infectious Diseases, And Epidemiology Flashcards
What type of microbiota in the body remain their for a person’s entire life?
Resident microbiota
What are the normal microorganisms found in our body that do not cause disease called?
Normal flora or indigenous microbiota
What type of microbiota remain in the body for a limited amount of time before disappearing?
Transient microbiota
What locations in the body are axenic?
Alveoli of lungs, CNS, circulatory system, upper urogenital regions, uterus
What does axenic mean?
Sites that are free of any microbes that are never colonized by flora
When does acquisition of normal microbiota occur?
Shortly after birth
What are opportunistic pathogens?
Normal microbiota that can cause disease under certain circumstances
What are the certain circumstances that could trigger normal microbiota to cause disease?
Introduction of normal microbiota into unusual site in the body, immune suppression, changes in the normal microbiota
What are the three types of potential reservoirs of infection for pathogens to live for protection?
Animal, human carriers, nonliving reservoirs
What is a reservoir of infection?
A location where a pathogen is likely to be found to live before they infect a new host
What are zoonoses?
Diseases naturally spread from animal host to humans
How can we acquire zoonoses?
Direct contact with animal or its waste, eating animals, bloodsucking arthropods
Who is usually considered to be a “dead-end host” and why?
Humans are more likely to get diseases from animals and the reverse is very unlikely
What is the reservoir for malaria?
Monkeys
What is the reservoir for toxoplasmosis?
Cat
What is the reservoir for anthrax?
Livestock
What is the reservoir for the bubonic plague?
Rodents
What is the reservoir for Lyme disease?
Deer
What is the reservoir for rabies?
Multiple but #1 involved with humans is bats
What is the reservoir for yellow fever?
Monkeys
What strategy is used to separate ill persons who have a communicable disease?
Isolation
What strategy is used to separate and restrict well persons who may have been exposed to a communicable disease?
Quarantine
How do microbes usually get to locations of nonliving reservoirs?
Contamination by feces or urine
Soil, food, and water are examples of what kind of reservoir?
Nonliving
What is contamination?
The mere presence of microbes in or on the body
What is actual infection?
When an organism becomes established in the body that may or may not result in disease
What are the three main pathways used by pathogens to enter the body?
Skin, mucous membranes, placenta
What is the term for a route that isn’t technically a portal of entry but a way to circumvent the usual portals of entry?
Parenteral route
What are the portal entries of the skin?
1 openings or cuts
2 hair follicles or sweat glands
3 things that can actually burrow their way into the skin
What must a pathogen be able to withstand when using the GI tract as route of entry?
Must survive the acidic pH of the stomach
What is the most common route of entry for pathogens?
Respiratory tract (nose, mouth, and eyes)
How may pathogens infect a fetus?
By crossing the placenta
What type of protozoan can cross the placenta?
Toxoplasma gondii (toxoplasmosis in humans)
What types of bacteria are known to be able to cross the placenta to harm the fetus?
Treponema pallidum (syphilis in humans) and listeria monocytogenes (listeriosis in humans)
What DNA viruses are known to be able to cross the placenta to harm a fetus?
Cytomegalovirus (asymptomatic in adults), parvovirus B19 (erythema infectiosum)
What RNA viruses are known to cross the placenta to harm a fetus?
Lentivirus (HIV AIDS) and rubivirus (German measles)
What is the difference between infection and disease?
Disease is technically the result of the infection if it alters normal body functions (also known as morbidity)
What is pathogenicity?
Ability of a microorganism to CAUSE a disease
What is virulence?
Degree of pathogenicity and how easy it is for the organism to cause disease