Microbes, immunity and disease Flashcards
What are the common possibilities for the febrile infant scenario?
Upper respiratory tract infection Acute otitis media Influenza Gastroenteritis Urinary tract infection Bacterial pneumonia
What causes the symptoms/determines recovery in the febrile infant scenario?
The immune system’s ability to cope with the pathogen
What can be recognised on a virus by the immune system?
Virus capsid shapes
Cells damaged by infection
Virus-infected cells
What can be recognised in terms of bacteria and fungi?
Bacterial surface antigens
Bacterial metabolites
Cells damaged by infection
What can be recognised in terms of parasites?
Surface shapes
Cells damaged by infection
Life cycle changes in parasite structure
Describe the pathology of whooping cough
Bordetella Pertussis
Childhood illness of coughing plus whoop/apnoea/vomiting
Lasts 6 weeks
What do neutrophils recognise?
Common bacterial cell wall components
C3b complement component
Fc region of antibodies
What is opsonisation?
Enhancing phagocytosis by coating the thing to be phagocytosed in something that the phagocyte binds with high affinity to
What are phagocytes of the reticuloendothelial system?
Macrophage like cells living in specific area like Kupffer cells
What is the role of the lymphatic system?
Collecting fluid out of tissues and returning it to blood stream
Fluid is first drained into lymph nodes via the thoracic duct. If the fluid contains material from an infectious agent then the immune system will be exposed to it in the lymph nodes and it will be filtered.
Efferent lymphatic vessels then put the fluid back into the blood stream
List the primary lymphoid organs
Bone marrow
Thymus
Fetal liver
List the secondary lymphoid organs
Adenoids Tonsils Spleen Appendix Peyer's patches Lymph nodes
