Microbiology Flashcards
What are the three domains of life?
Bacteria
Archaea
Eucarya
Is bacteria a prokaryote or a eukaryote?
Prokaryote
Is archaea a prokaryote or a eukaryote?
Prokaryote
Is eucarya a prokaryote or a eukaryote?
Eukaryote
What are the five causes of infection?
Parasites
Fungi
Bacteria
Viruses
Prions
What are parasites?
Organisms that live in, with or on another organism and derives its nutrients at the expense of the host.
They can be vector of infection or cause vectors themselves.
Eukaryotes
What are fungi?
Saprophytic (get energy from dead and decaying matter) and spore producing organisms.
Eukaryotes
What are bacteria?
Round, spiral or rod-shaped single celled organisms.
Prokaryotes
What are viruses?
Unique, single celled metabolically inhert organisms.
Only replicate within living cells.
Unclassified
Most viruses have a specific host range and only infect specific host cell types - tissue tropism
What are prions?
Prions are proteins of unknown function found on the surface of brain cells.
Unclassified
What are the two sites that we can collect culture from?
Sterile - blood, CSF, brain cells
Non-sterile - skin cells
What culture site is more significant when identifying infections?
Sterile sites
What are the advantages of microscopy when identifying infections?
Rapid
What are the disadvantages of microscopy when identifying infections?
Not a specific technique
Clarify results with other forms of tests
What are the four types of microscopy?
Light - identifies all infections, except viruses
Unstained - views all WBCs and parasites
Gram stain - views bacteria and fungal cells
Special stains (Ziehl Neelsen/Auramine) - mycobacteria
What is a healthcare associated infection?
The onset of infection following 48 hrs of admission into hospital or recent healthcare contact
What is a virion?
Extracellular form of a virus. Exists outside host and facilitates transmission from one host to another.
Describe the structure of a virion.
Consist of a nucleic acid, which has virion associated polymerase attached to it.
Nucleic acid is surrounded by a protein caspid.
Some virions have a lipid envelop around the protein caspid. Lipid envelope has proteins in attached to it which are made from the host cell’s materials and allow them to evade the immune system.
What four things classify virus families?
Virion shape
Presence of envelope
Genome structure
Mode of replication
Describe the process of virus replication.
- The virus antigens attach to the host cell’s surface
- The virus enters the host cell and is uncoated, which means that its lipid envelope is removed if it has one
- The virus then inserts its nucleic acid into the host cell’s DNA. The host cell’s DNA is then replicated, which means that the virus’s nucleic acid is also replicated
4 .The virus’s genes are then transcribed init mRNA and then translated into viral protein coats
- The new nucleic acid then enters the newly formed protein coats to produce several viruses. These viruses then burst out of the host cell by undergoing lysis.
- The cycle continues
What are the multiple routes of virus transmission?
Blood-Borne
Sexually
Vertical
Faecal-Oral
Droplet
Close Contact
Vector-Borne
Zoonotic
What happens when a virus can infect humans and other animals?
Different strains of the virus can arise in the different types of organisms. These strains can connect and recombine in the one organism and generate a new strain.
What are the features of influenza A virus?
An example of an acute viral infection.
The virus infects cells of the respiratory tract and alter cytokine expression. This results in feverish symptoms.
If they destroy the respiratory epithelium, it can lead to secondary bacterial infections.