Pathogenicity and Infection Flashcards
What is a host?
A larger organism that supports that survival and growth of a pathogenic microorganism.
What is an infection?
A microbe growing and multiplying on or within a host. May or may not result in overt disease.
What is an infectious disease?
Any changes from a state of health that occurs when part or all of the host is incapable of carrying on normal functions due to the presence of a pathogen or its products.
What is a pathogen?
Any organism that causes disease.
What is a primary pathogen?
Causes disease by direct interaction with a healthy host.
What is a opportunistic pathogen?
May be part of the normal microbiota and causes disease when the host is immunocompromised.
What is pathogenicity?
Ability of a pathogen to cause disease.
What is virulence?
Degree of harm/pathogenicity inflicted on its host.
What are extracellular pathogens?
Pathogens that remain in tissues and/or fluids but never enter host cells during disease.
What is an intracellular pathogen?
Pathogens that grow and multiply within host cells.
What are the 2 types of intracellular pathogens?
- Facultative intracellular pathogens.
- Obligate intracellular pathogens.
What are facultative intracellular pathogens?
Intracellular pathogens that can also grow and multiply in a pure culture w/o host cell support.
What are obligate intracellular pathogens?
Intracellular pathogens that can only grow inside host cells.
What are signs, in the context of pathogenicity and infection?
Objective changes that can be directly observed and measured.
ex: Fever, rash, swelling.
What are symptoms?
Subjective changes.
ex: Pain, loss of appetite, level of exhaustion.
What is a disease syndrome?
A set of characteristic signs and symptoms for a disease.
ex: Coughing, sneezing, sore throat, fever, green mucus, swollen lymph nodes, mouth sores.
What 3 things does the host provide the pathogen with?
- Protection.
- Energy to use.
- Nutrients.
What factors impact the success of transmission?
- Number of invading organisms.
- Virulence of organism.
- Presence of adhesion and invasion factors.
What must a pathogen do in order to survive in the body?
- Outcompete the resident microbiota for resources.
- Survive host defense mechanisms.
When does disease ensue in an organism?
When the organism produces molecules that directly damage host cells or stimulate host immune cells to destroy infected tissue.
What are the 4 stages of disease progression?
- Incubation period.
- Prodromal period.
- Illness period.
- Convalescence or Death.
When does the incubation period occur?
From pathogen entry to development of signs and symptoms.
What occurs during the prodromal stage?
Mild, non-specific signs and symptoms.
What occurs during the illness period?
The disease is at its most severe and definitive signs and symptoms are displayed.
What occurs during convalescence?
The organism recovers from the illness.
*Alternatively, the organisms could also unfortunately succumb to the illness.
What are animate sources of pathogens?
- Animals.
- Humans
What are inanimate sources of pathogens?
- Water.
- Food.
What is a reservoir?
A natural environmental location in which the pathogen normally resides.
What is a vector?
An organism that spreads disease from one host to another.
ex: Mosquitoes, fleas, ticks, biting flies, mites.
What are the 5 main routes of transmission?
- Airborne.
- Contact.
- Vehicle.
- Vector-borne.
- Vertical transmission.
What does the efficiency of transmission increase with?
Extensive multiplication.
What is a pathogen’s virulence influenced by?
Its ability to live outside its host.
Exposure alone is not enough for infection to occur, tropism must be present as well. What is tropism?
The pathogen must be in contact with the appropriate host tissue.
ex: A respiratory virus may not cause an infection if it lands on a foot.
What is tropism determined by?
Specific cell surface receptors.
What are the three forms of airborne transmission?
- Droplets.
- Droplet nuclei.
Which form of airborne transmission is direct?
Droplet.
What are the characteristics of droplet transmission?
- Droplets up to 2mm in diameter.
- Produced when a liquid is under force (ex: saliva, mucus).
- Can travel <1m.
Which forms of airborne transmission is indirect?
- Droplet nuclei.
- Dust particles.
What are the characteristics of droplet nuclei transmission?
- Droplets 1-5 um in diameter.
- Results from evaporation of larger droplets.
- May remain airborne for hours or days.
- Can travel across long distances.
What are the characteristics of dust particles?
- Aerosolized, smaller than 1 um.
- Can be dispersed farther.
- Microorganisms can adhere to dust particles.
- Allows for hospital acquired infections due to long survival time outside of host (s).
How does contact transmission occur?
The host touching the source or reservoir of the pathogen.