Infectious Disease Processes Flashcards
What is pneumonia?
An infection that inflames the alveoli in one or both lungs; the alveoli can fill with pus or fluid.
Pneumonia can be caused by bacteria and fungi.
What are the signs and symptoms of pneumonia?
- Coughing
- Shortness of breath
- Fever
- Fatigue
- Chest pain
Pneumonia is most dangerous for infants, people older than 65, and the immunosuppressed.
What is folliculitis?
Infection of the hair follicles.
It can lead to conditions like a sty or furuncle.
What is a sty?
Folliculitis of an eyelash.
A sty is a localized infection affecting the eyelash follicle.
What is a furuncle?
Localized region of pus surrounded by inflamed tissue (boil).
Furuncles can occur due to bacterial infections.
What is impetigo?
Dry, crusting sores.
Impetigo is a common skin infection caused by bacteria.
What are the signs and symptoms of a urinary tract infection?
- Painful urination
- Urgency/frequency
- Lower back pain
- Pelvic pain
- Cloudy or bloody urine
Urinary tract infections can occur in any part of the urinary system.
What is urethritis?
Infection of the urethra.
What is cystitis?
Infection of the bladder.
What is pyelonephritis?
Infection of the kidneys.
What is pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)?
A sexually transmitted genital infection that can lead to infertility due to scarring of the fallopian tubes and uterus.
What is meningitis?
Inflammation of the meninges.
What is encephalitis?
Inflammation of the brain.
What is meningoencephalitis?
Inflammation of both meningitis and encephalitis.
What are common signs and symptoms of meningitis and encephalitis?
- Fever
- Headache
- Stiff neck
- Convulsions
- Coma
These symptoms can progress rapidly.
What is otitis media?
Infection of the middle ear.
What is otitis externa?
Infection of the outer ear canal (swimmer’s ear).
What is laryngitis?
Infection of the larynx (voice box).
What is pharyngitis?
Infection of the pharynx (throat).
What is the primary transmission route for gastrointestinal infections?
Fecal-oral route by contaminated food or water.
Can range from mild to life-threatening due to dehydration.
What parasitic infection is responsible for most deaths globally?
Malaria kills 660,000 people annually, which is the most of any parasite worldwide.
Other parasites like lymphatic filariasis are deadly but do not kill as many as malaria.
In which year of life are signs of Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome first seen?
First year of life.
Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome is an X-linked hereditary condition. It also makes it difficult for a child’s bone marrow to produce platelets, making a child prone to bleeding. It occurs mostly in males. Pyogenic infections (recurrent), eczema, and bleeding are seen in the first year of life in patients with Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome.
What is virulence?
The ability of a certain strain of bacteria to result in a disease.
Ability to remain dormant is the characteristic of the life cycle of an organism related to its survival.
What does the size of inoculum refer to?
The number of microbes involved.
What is the degree of attenuation?
In biology, “attenuation” refers to a regulatory mechanism where an organism reduces the expression of a specific gene or set of genes by prematurely terminating transcription, often in response to changing environmental conditions, essentially “weakening” the gene’s activity; this process is primarily observed in bacteria and involves the formation of specific RNA structures within the mRNA transcript that signal termination of transcription. The degree of attenuation accounts for an organism’s resistance.
Attenuated strains of disease-causing bacteria and viruses are often used as vaccines. The weakened strains are used as vaccines because they stimulate a protective immune response while causing no disease or only mild disease in the person receiving the vaccine.
What type of contact involves indirect vehicle contact?
Contact between a person and inanimate objects contaminated by pathogens.
E. coli can survive on hard surfaces for up to 16 months.
Direct Contact Transmission
Refers to person-to-person transmission through physical contact or droplet sprays (when an infected person coughs or sneezes)
Indirect vector contact
Involves transmission through an animal that carries a disease from one host to another
Which pathogens are likely associated with community-acquired pneumonia?
- S. pneumoniae
- H. influenzae
- Mycoplasma
- Chlamydophila
- Legionella
Alcoholism is associated with S. pneumoniae but not H. influenzae.
What additional manifestation can occur from a C. albicans infection in an immunocompetent host?
Oral thrush.
What is the most common cause of urinary tract infection?
Escherichia coli.
