Microbial Diseases Of The Cardiovascular System Pt. 1 Flashcards
What is bacteremia?
Invasion of the bloodstream by bacteria
What is toxemia?
Toxic substances (toxins) present in the blood
What is viremia?
Invasion of the bloodstream by viruses
What is lymphangitis?
Infection and inflammation of the lymphatic vessels
Lymphangitis usually travels in which direction?
Distal to proximal (lymph brings substance back to trunk)
What are the tiny capillary hemorrhages that can result from bacteremia, viremia, septicemia, or toxemia?
Petechiae
What is the difference between exotoxins and endotoxins?
Exotoxins are secreted from living microbes
Endotoxins are released from gram negative bacteria
What can occur following bacteremia if the bacteria invades bone?
Osteomyelitis
What kinds of people rarely have septicemia?
Immunocompetent
Infections of the cardiovascular system are usually what kind of infections?
Opportunistic or nosocomial
What kind of specific bacteria more often produce severe septicemia and why?
Gram negative bacteria due to the release of endotoxins from the destroyed cell wall
What group of people are especially at risk for cardiovascular infections?
Immunocompromised
What group of pathogens are most often involved with endocarditis?
Viridans streptococci
What pathogens make up the Viridans streptococci?
Streptococcus sanguis, streptococcus mutans, streptococcus anginosus, streptococcus bovis
Which of the Viridian streptococci is most common?
S. mutans
What other pathogens besides the Viridans streptococci can be the causes of endocarditis?
Staph. aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, streptococcus pyogenes, E. coli
What type of patients have an increased risk for endocarditis?
Those with abnormal hearts
What are the signs and symptoms of Rheumatic fever/heart disease?
Joint inflammation, small nodules or hard round bumps under the skin, neuromuscular changes, fever, weight loss, fatigue, stomach pains
What pathogen is responsible for Rheumatic fever/heart disease?
Streptococcus pyogenes
What condition is seen 1-5 weeks prior to Rheumatic Fever?
Strep throat (or Scarlet Fever)
What age group is most at risk for Rheumatic fever?
Children ages 5-15
Why is rheumatic fever less common in the U.S.?
We treat strep throat quickly with antibiotics
When damage is severe with Rheumatic fever, what issues can result?
Surgical valve repair or replacement
What is the best way to prevent Rheumatic fever?
Antibiotics for strep throat
What is another name for Brucellosis?
Undulant fever
What are the signs and symptoms of brucellosis?
Fluctuating fever that spikes every afternoon chills, sweating, headache, myalgia, weight loss
What is the pathogen responsible for brucellosis?
Brucella melitensis
Where is brucella melitensis typically found?
Sheep and goats
What kind of bacteria is causing brucellosis and therefore, what is causing the sickness?
Gram negative bacteria, endotoxins
How is brucellosis acquired?
Contaminated dairy products or contact with infected animal blood, urine, or placentas
How is brucellosis treated and prevented?
Not usually treated (endotoxins of gram negative bacteria would only get worse), prevented by attenuated animal vaccine
What condition is commonly known as rabbit fever?
Tularemia
What are the signs and symptoms of tularemia?
Skin lesions (usually mild with just this) but also swollen lymph nodes, ascending lymphangitis, fever, signs of septicemia, anorexia possibly death
What is the pathogen responsible for tularemia?
Francisella tularensis
Where is the pathogen, fransicella tularensis, commonly found?
In rabbits
How is tularemia transmitted?
Via bite of infected tick or contact with infected animal
Why is tularemia considered a Category A bioterrorist threat?
Due to ease of transmissibility and high infectivity (could be genetically modified to create a potentially dangerous new illness)
What is septicemia?
Systemic infection in which pathogens are present in the circulating blood, having spread from an infection elsewhere
What is the nickname for the bubonic plague?
Black Death
What are the signs and symptoms of the bubonic plague?
High fevers swollen painful lymph nodes, bacteremia, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), subcutaneous hemorrhaging, death of tissues
What is the name for the swollen painful lymph nodes seen with the bubonic plague?
Buboes
Why is the bubonic plague referred to as Black Death?
Tissue necrosis turns skin dark
What is the fatality rate of the bubonic plague if left untreated?
50%
What is the fatality rate of the bubonic plague if treated?
5-15%
When does pneumonic plague occur?
When the bacterium involved with the plague spreads to the lungs
What is the fatality rate of pneumonic plague?
100% fatal if not treated within the first 24 hours
What pathogen is responsible for the bubonic plague?
Yersinia pestis
How is the bubonic plague transmitted?
Flea bite (vector) or by contact with infected rodent (especially rats) or flea feces
What is the reservoir for the bubonic plauge? The vector?
Rodents = reservoir Fleas = vector
How can pneumonic plague be transmitted?
Person to person via aerosols and sputum
Why is the bubonic plague a class A bioterrorist threat?
Extremely virulent
How can the bubonic plague be prevented?
Rodent/flea prevention and good hygiene
What type of rash occurs at the first stage of Lyme disease?
Expanding red “bull’s eye” rash
What kind of infection is Lyme disease?
Bacterial
What is the most common tick borne illness?
Lyme disease
What percentage of Lyme disease patients have the characteristic red “bull’s eye” rash?
75%
What percent of patients with Lyme disease develop neurological symptoms and cardiac dysfunction?
10%
Why can Lyme disease be difficult to diagnose?
All other symptoms other than the rash are very general and can be caused by many other conditions (rash is only seen in 75% of cases)
What kinds of neurological issues are seen in the second stage of Lyme disease?
Meningitis, encephalitis, peripheral neuropathy, possibly Bell’s palsy
What is the third stage of Lyme disease?
Severe arthritis that can last for years
What is the clinical term for the red rash seen with Lyme disease?
Erythema migrans
What is the pathogen responsible for Lyme disease?
Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme borreliosis)
How is Lyme disease transmitted?
Tick bite
Why has there been an increase in Lyme disease?
Movement of human populations into woodland areas
Deer population protected/encouraged to feed in suburban yards
What kind of bacterial shape is borrelia burgdorferi?
Spirochete
Lyme disease is mostly localized to what locations?
North eastern, mid-Atlantic, and north central regions
What characterizes relapsing fever?
Recurring episodes of septicemia and fever due to body’s repeated efforts to remove the spirochetes
What is the pathogen responsible for louse-borne relapsing fever?
Borrelia recurrentis
What pathogen is responsible for endemic relapsing fever?
Several borrelia species
How is louse-borne relapsing fever transmitted?
Human body louse (lice)
How is endemic relapsing fever transmitted?
Soft ticks
