Introduction Flashcards
Purposes of Clinical Microbiology
- control epidemics
- prevention
- treat infections
invasion by and multiplication of microorganisms in body tissue
infection
alteration that disrupts normal body function
disease
Causes of disease
- pathogens
- inheritance
- environment
Types of pathogens
- prions
- viruses
- bacteria
- fungi
- parasites
Ways to acquire infections
- nosocomial (hospital) infections
- community-acquired infections
- endogenous infections
- exogenous infection
non-infectious organisms
- normal flora
- opportunists
- contaminants
Germ Theory
- suggested by Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch
- first to say that diseases are caused by microorganisms
Koch’s Postulates
- pathogens are found in sick organisms, not healthy ones
- pathogen must be isolated and grown in pure culture
- purified pathogen should cause same disease when injected in a new host
- injected pathogen should be re-isolated and identical to the original
Body as a growth environment
- has nutrients
- moist, watery environment
- optimal temperature
- supports flora and pathogens
Disease process
- enter body
- disrupt function
- cause symptoms
Signs of infection
fever, chills, fatigue, weight loss, vasodilation, increased WBC count, abnormal peripheral blood differential, increased sedimentation rate type-specific antibodies
sedimentation rate
rate at which RBC’s settle out of blood in one hour; altered by inflammatory proteins, making RBC’s heavier and faster to fall
Modes of infection transmission
- direct transmission
- indirect transmission
direct transmission of infection
- congenital, sexual and physical contact
- hand-to-hand contact with body secretions and respiratory droplets
indirect transmission of infection
- contaminated food & water
- fomites
- airborne
- animals
- insects/arthropods
How infections disrupt body function
- produce toxins
- remove nutrients
- destroy tissue
Types of toxins
neurotoxins, cytotoxins, enterotoxins, endotoxins
Ways to fight infection
- prevention
- antibiotics, anti-fungals, anti-viremic, anti-parasitics
- host defense mechanism (immune system)
Purpose of the Immune System
- protection
- prevent disease
- destroy disease-causing agent
Components of the Immune System
- non-specific defenses
- specific defenses
Components of non-specific defense
- 1st line of defense (physical barriers)
- 2nd line of defense (inflammatory response)
1st Line of Defense
physical barriers, chemical barriers (i.e., sweat), secretions containing lysozymes, reflexes, secretions
2nd Line of Defense
inflammatory response to allow WBC’s to enter site of infection, WBC production, fever, interferon