Microbiology Flashcards
What colour dye do gram positive bacteria stain with?
Purple dye
Describe the characteristics of bacteria
Prokaryotic
Unicellular and simple structure
Cell wall outside the cell membrane
Divide by binary fission
What colour do gram negative bacteria stain with?
Pink dye
Name one use of Gram stains
Different antibiotics may be used to treat gram positive and gram negative infections
What are the advantages of the bacteria characteristics? (To the bacteria)
- invade tissues (enzymes,capsules, toxins)
- resist destruction (spores, capsules)
- cause signs of infection (enzymes, toxins)
Describe the characteristics of viruses.
Need a host cell to reproduce.
Smaller than bacteria.
Protein coat and either DNA or RNA.
What are the two main groups of fungi?
Yeasts and moulds
What are the two types of contact transmission and give examples of each.
Direct, e.g. Person to person like coughing, kissing etc.
Indirect, e.g. contaminated instruments
In order to cause disease microorganisms need to enter via…
GI tract Respiratory tract Skin and mucous membranes Genital tract Urinary tract Transplacental
Give an example of common vehicle transmission
Contaminated water/food
Give an example of a vector transmission and a disease which is spread in this way.
Insects
Malaria
What is a normal flora?
Organisms found on/in the body
What does opportunistic mean?
Organism which does not normally cause infection does cause infection.
What is a pathogen?
Disease causing organism
What does pathogenicity mean?
Ability to cause infection
