Pathogens Flashcards
What is a parasite
an organism or virus that lives in or on a host and benefits from them while harming them at the same time
What must a pathogen do in the host?
Enter, persist, and reproduce
What are the key players in human pathogens?
Bacteria (make up 40% of total) and then Fungi (20%)
which bacteria have a layer of lipopolysaccharides
gram-negative bacteria have an outer layer of lipopolysaccharides
of bacteria, archaea, and eukarya, which are pathogens
bacteria and eukarya
What are the main differences between microparasites and macroparasites
micro: live inside a host cell and replicate in the host(viruses, bacteria, fungi)
macro: leave the host after replicating (worms, arthropods)
What are the advantages of intracellular life
- access to nutrients in host cell
- hidden from phagocytes and antibodies
- hidden from antibiotics
advantages and disadvantage of extracellular life
- obtain nutrients from fluids between cells
- grow and reproduce freely
- spread rapidly
disadvantage: continuous exposure to host immune system
Which pathogen causes the least infections in humans
protozoa
Key features of Adenoviruses
Diseases: Pharynconjunctival fever, acute respiratory disease, gastroenteritis, mesenteric adenitis, intussusceptions, keratoconjunctavis, hepatitis, CNS disease
Transmission: respiratory droplets, eye to eye
Pathogenesis: Infect epithelium of respiratory tract and eyes/intestines
Treatment/prevention: Ribavirin and cidofovir, live oral vaccine
Staphylococcus aureus Characteristics
Diseases: Boils, skin sepsis, post-op wound infections, catheter infections, food bourne illnesses, endocarditis, TSS, pneumonia
Transmission: Humans skin and nose
Treatment: Penicillins, muprirocin, isolation
Candida albicans
Characteristics: fungus
Diseases: Thrush, candidiasis
Transmission: Normal part of skin, mouth, intestine
Treatment: Topical and oral antifungals, Amphotericin B, Fluconazole, itraconazole
Giardia intestinalis
Protozoan
Diseases: giardiasis
Transmission: fecal-oral
Pathogenisis: Diarrhea and impaired absorbtion
Treatment: Metronidazole, tinidazole
Genus Taenia
-Tapeworms
Diseases: (Taeniasis) Beef and pork tapeworms, cysticercosis (larval stages)
Transmission: Eating raw or undercooked meet from animals infected with larvae
Pathogenesis: Cysts in brain leads to neurological symptoms, adult worms symptomatic
Treatment: Niclosamide, praziquantel, albendazole
What organism can cause human infections and is a prokaryote?
Bacteria
