Pathology of Respiratory Infections Flashcards
What are the opposing factors for lung infections?
- Microorganism Pathogenicity
- Capacity to resist infection
- Whether or not the person is in the population at risk
What is microorganism pathogenicity?
The ability of the microorganism as a pathogen to estbalish an infection.
What are primary pathogens?
Pathogens that are highly invasive. They are able to establish infections in healthy people.
What are facultative pathogens?
Groups of organisms in the middle which aren’t particularly infectious but they just need a bit of assisstance to be able to esatblish an infection.
What are opportunistic pathogens?
They have low invasiveness, low infectivity, only affect immuocpromised people.
What does the capacity to resist infection depend on?
- State of the patients defence mechanisms
- Age of the patient
What are common URTIs?
- Coryza - common cold
- Sore throat syndrome
- Acute Laryngotracheobronchitis (Croup)
- Laryngitis
- Sinusitis
- Acute epiglottis
What are the main infectants of acute epiglottis?
- Haemophilus influenzae
- Group A beta-hemolytic streptococci
What are common LRTIs?
- Bronchitis
- Bronchiolitis
- Pneumonia
- Consequences
- Possible Complications
What is Bronchiolitis?
Infection of the bronchioles
What are the Respiratory Tract Defence mechanisms?
- Immune system (humoral and cellular)
- Respiratory tract secretions
- The upper respiratory tract acts as a filter
- Macrophage - mucociliary escalator system
What is the - Macrophage - mucociliary escalator system?
- Alveolar macrophages
- Mucociliary escalator
- Cough reflex
What is the cytopathic effect?
Intracellular pathogens infect particularly the epithelium of the respiratory tract and they damage the cells.
What happens to the mucociliary escalator function after the cytopathic effect?
It is lost
What is a very important risk during influenza in terms of morbidity and mortality?
Secondary bacterial infection
What are the main classifications of pneumonia?
- Anatomical (helps understand radiology)
- Aetiological (circumstances leading to pneumonia)
- Microbiological (which organisms cause the infection)
What are the aetiological classifications of pneumonia?
- Community-acquired
- Hospital-acquired (Nosocomial)
- Pneumonia in the immunocompromised
- Atypical pneumonia
- Aspiration pneumonia
- Recurrent pneumonia
What types of organisms cause hospital-acquired pneumonia?
Drug resistant