Pathogens & hosts Flashcards
<p>What is clinical infection characterised by?</p>
<p>Inflammation</p>
<p>Pain</p>
<p>Pyrexia (raised body temperature)</p>
<p>Tachycardia (increased heartrate)</p>
<p>Rigors (sudden feeling of cold with shivers)</p>
<p>Increased white cell count</p>
<p>Increased C reactive protein (CRP)</p>
<p>What is pyrexia?</p>
<p>Raised body temperature</p>
<p>What is tachycardia?</p>
<p>Increased heartrate</p>
<p>What are rigors?</p>
<p>Sudden feeling of cold with shivers</p>
<p>What is a pathogen?</p>
<p>An organism that can cause disease</p>
<p>What is a commensal?</p>
<p>An organism which is part of normal flora</p>
<p>What are examples of commensals?</p>
<p>E coli in the gut</p>
<p>Staph aureus in the nose</p>
<p>What is a skin commensal?</p>
<p>Coagulase-negative staphyloccii</p>
<p>When can coagulase-negative staphyloccii be pathogenic?</p>
<p>In the presence of foreign bodies (such as prosthetic heart valves)</p>
<p>What is Koch's postulates?</p>
<p>The criteria used to identify the agent of a particular disease</p>
<p>What are the principles of Koch's postulates?</p>
<p>Organism must be found in all cases of the disease</p>
<p>Able to be cultured outside the body for several generations</p>
<p>Should reproduce the disease on inoculation (vaccination)</p>
<p>What do non-sterile sites contain that sterile sites do not?</p>
<p>Commensals</p>
<p>What do we need knowledge of to determine if something is a pathogen?</p>
<p>Normal flora for the site</p>
<p>Organisms pathogenicity</p>
<p>Clinical context</p>
<p>What is pathogenicity?</p>
<p>Ability of an organism to cause disease</p>
<p>What is flora?</p>
<p>Collective bacteria and other microorganisms in an ecosystem</p>
<p>What does an organism need to be to cause an infection?</p>
<p>Infectivity (ability to become established)</p>
<p>Virulence (ability to cause harmful effects once established)</p>
<p>What is infectivity?</p>
<p>Ability to become established</p>
<p>What is virulence?</p>
<p>Ability to cause harmful effects once established</p>
<p>What are things that help infectivity?</p>
<p>Attachment (such as P-fimbriae on E coli)</p>
<p>Acid resistance (such as urease on helicobacter pylori)</p>
<p>What is an example of attachment helping infectivity?</p>
<p>P-fimbriae on E coli</p>
<p>What is an example of acid resistance helping infectivity?</p>
<p>Urease on helicobacter pylori</p>
<p>What is urease?</p>
<p>An enzyme that catalysis urea to ammonia and carbon dioxide</p>
<p>What is virulence supported by?</p>
<p>Invasiveness</p>
<p>Toxin production</p>
<p>Evasion of immune system</p>
<p>What is virulence specific to?</p>
<p>Strains, not species</p>
<p>What is an example of invasiveness?</p>
<p>Streptococcus pyogenes causing:</p>
<p>Necrotising fascilitis (flesh eating disease)</p>
<p>Cellulitis</p>
<p>Connective tissue breakdown</p>
<p>Fibrinolysis</p>
<p></p>
<p>What is haemolysis?</p>
<p>The rupture or destruction of red blood cells</p>
<p>What are the 3 types of haemolysis?</p>
<p>Alpha haemolytic (partial haemolysis, turns blood agar green)</p>
<p>Beta haemolytic (complete haemolysis, turns blood agar clear)</p>
<p>Non haemolytic</p>
<p>What is alpha haemolytic?</p>
<p>Partial haemolysis</p>
<p>What colour does alpha haemolytic turn blood agar?</p>
<p>Green</p>
<p>What is beta haemolytic?</p>
<p>Complete haemolysis</p>
<p>What colour does beta haemolytic turn blood agar?</p>
<p>Clear</p>
<p>What may different species of strepococci be?</p>
<p>Alpha, beta or non haemolytic</p>
<p>What is an example of an alpha haemolytic streptococci and what does it cause?</p>
<p>Streptococcus pneumoniae which causes:</p>
<p>Pneumonia</p>
<p>Meningitis</p>
<p>Septicaemia</p>
<p>What are beta haemolytic bacteria further identified by?</p>
<p>Lancefield groupings</p>
<p>What are lancefield groupings based on?</p>
<p>Surface antigens</p>
<p>What groups are in lancefield groupins?</p>
<p>A to G</p>
<p>What are the clinically most important lancefield groups?</p>
<p>A, B and D</p>
<p>What is a major group A beta haemolytic streptococci and what does it cause?</p>
<p>Streptococcus pyogenes which causes:</p>
<p>Sore throats</p>
<p>Cellulitis</p>
<p>Necrotising fascilitis</p>
<p>What is a toxin?</p>
<p>A poison that acts as an antigen in the body</p>
<p>What are the 3 kinds of toxins?</p>
<p>Exotoxins (released extracellularly)</p>
<p>Enterotoxins (exotoxins which act on the GI tract)</p>
<p>Endotoxins (structurally part of the gram negative cell wall)</p>
<p>What are exotoxins?</p>
<p>Toxins that are released extracellularly</p>
<p>What are enterotoxins?</p>
<p>Exotoxins that act on the GI tract</p>
<p>What are endotoxins?</p>
<p>Toxins that are structurally part of the gram negative cell wall</p>
<p>What does clostridium tetani produce?</p>
<p>Toxins that cause tetanus</p>