Introduction to Medical Microbiology

Question 1

endemic

Answer 1

a contagious disease that is always present in a population

Question 2

Epidemic

Answer 2

a contagious disease that spreads rapidly and widely

Question 3

Pandemic

Answer 3

-an epidemic that spreads internationally affecting a significant proportion of the population

Question 4

Black death

Answer 4

• entered England in 1348

- it killed 30-50% of the total population

Question 5

Symphilis

Answer 5

• 1490s- Spain
• 1494- France
• then poland, italy, england
• by 1539 over 1 million cases in Europe - 1.5% of population died

Question 6

Spanish Flu

Answer 6

• march 1918, Camp Funston, Kansas
• Oct 1918 world-wide pandemic
• one third of the world population infected, 6% died
• US median life span reduced by 12 years

Question 7

AIDS

Answer 7

• 1981

- started only seeing it in dead patients, homosexual men

Question 8

SARS

Answer 8

• Nov 2002- July 2003
• New, highly contagious pneumonia
• world-wide 8000 cases and 10% case fatality rate (>50% for over 65)

Question 9

Geographic origin of major pandemics

Answer 9

• plague- Asia
• syphilis- Central America
• influenza- Kansas/ Asia
• AIDS- Africa
• SARS- Guangdong, China

Question 10

Biological origin of major pandemics

Answer 10

Unknown- plague
Other human pathogens- syphilis
Animals- SARS (Civets), Many influenza (Birds), AIDS (Monkeys)

-Pandemic microorganisms have many origins

Question 11

Endemic infections

Answer 11

• many endemic infections have declines
• death rates from infections have declined
• deaths of children (5-14) 1840-2006- declined except for a couple of events
• syphilis has become rare and less serious
• declined from improved living conditions and hygiene: cholera and childbirth fever, but reappear in crowded, lack of hand washing

Question 12

Reasons for decline in endemic infections

Answer 12

• unknown reasons- presumably mutations
• improved living conditions and hygiene: clean air, clean water
• vaccines and antibiotics

Question 13

New infections have appeared

Answer 13

Legionnnaires' disease 1976
Lyme disease 1976
AIDS 1981
Toxic shock syndrome 1982
Influenza pandemics 1918, 1937, 1957, 1968, 2009
-Hepatitis B 1965
-SARS 2003
-Intentional anthrax epidemic 2001

Question 14

Some conditions have been re-defined as infections

Answer 14

• stomach ulcers in 1980s

- cervical cancer in the 1990s

Question 15

Future changes may be expected

Answer 15

New conditions might appear:

• influenza mutants
• infections from remote animals or other environment
• infection with drug resistant organisms

Known conditions might be discovered to be infectious:

• Alzheimer’s disease
• Multiple sclerosis
• Type-2 diabetes
• obesity
• hearts attacks and stroke

Question 16

Infections gone because of vaccines

Answer 16

• smallpox
• polio
• diptheria