Infectious Disease Flashcards
What is a communicable disease?
An infectious disease that can be transmitted from one person to another
What are the public health principles of infectious and communicable disease? (4)
Epidemiology
Identification and investigation
- Index case
Prediction
Prevention
Who is Health Canada?
They are a federal department responsible for helping Canadian’s maintain and improve their health, while respecting individual choices and circumstances
What is body substance isolation? (2)
BSI supercedes universal precautions
It is based on the premise that all exposures to body fluids, under any circumstance, are potentially infectious
The development and/or manifestations of clinical disease depends on several factors. What are these factors? (4)
Virulence (degree of pathogenicity)
Number of infectious agents (dose)
Resistance (immune status) of the host
Correct mode of entry
What are the chain of elements for an infectious disease? (6)
The pathogenic agent
A reservoir
A port of exit from the reservoir
An environment conducive to transmission of the pathogenic agent
A portal of entry into the new host
Susceptibility of the new host to the infectious disease
What is a pathogenic agent?
A pathogen is a microorganism that can create pathological processes in the human host.
How are pathogenic agents classified? (4)
Morphology
Chemical composition
Growth requirements
Viability
What is normal flora? (2)
Organisms that live inside the body
They compete with invading pathogens
What are opportunistic pathogens?
Ordinarily non-harmful bacteria that cause disease under unusual conditions
What are spores?
The reproductive elements of the microorganism
What is germination?
The process where a spore begins to develop
What is the germination time?
The time from release of a pathogen until it infects another cell and causes the release of a new generation of particles
What is colonization?
A group of identical (clone) organisms derived from a single parent
What is contamination?
The soiling of an item by the introduction of organisms
What is a convalescent carrier?
An individual who is clinically recovered from an infectious disease but is still capable of transmitting the infectious agent to others
What is a chronic carrier?
An individual who does not display the symptoms of a disease, but harbours the pathogen which causes it, or has the gene (or genes) for it, and can transmit the disease to others either through interacting with other individuals, or by passing the disease-causing gene (or genes) to offspring
What is a nosocomial infection?
A hospital acquired infection
What is leukocytosis?
It is an abnormal elevation of WBC count
What is purulent exudate?
Pus filled discharge
What is epidemiology? (2)
The study of distribution and determinants of health related states and events in populations and the control of health problems.
It is the study of epidemic disease
What are the types of pathogenic agents? (6)
Bacteria Viruses Prions Fungi Protozoa Helminths
What is bacteria? (6)
Single cell organism
Require a host to supply food and a supportive environment
Self-reproducing without a host
Has no nucleic material
Produce toxins which are usually more toxic than the bacteria itself (endo or exotoxins)
Can cause local or systemic infection
What is an endotoxin?
Waste products released by living bacteria
What is an exotoxin?
Toxic products released when bacteria die or decompose
What is a gram positive test?
The cell wall is composed of a thick layer of peptidologlycan
What is a gram negative test?
The cell wall is composed of a thin layer of perptidologlycan covered by an outer membrane of lipoprotein and lipopolysaccharide containing endotoxins
What are bactericidal antibiotics?
They are capable of killing bacteria
What are bacteriostatic antibiotics?
They inhibit bacterial growth and reproduction
What happens if a bacteria can alter cell membrane structure?
They develop resistance
What happens if antibiotics alter normal flora?
May lead to other complications