Sketchy Micro: Paramyxovirus Flashcards
What kind of virus is paramyxovirus?
- Negative-sense, ssRNA (like the night-time scene with the moon in the background)
- Enveloped (like the sheet-covered ghosts)
Paramyxovirus is spread by _______________.
respiratory droplets (like the droplets coming from the sprinklers)
What kind of vaccine is the MMR vaccine?
Live (just like the live puppet show where the evil villain is trying to inoculate the pregnant woman)
What is the other name for Measles?
Rubeola (like the female weasel in the ruby-red Spanish dress –Spanish to make you think of Hola)
What are the four main symptoms of early Measles?
The four Cs:
•Cough (coughing weasel man)
•Conjunctivitis (weasel man with red eyes)
•Coryza (weasel man with running nose)
•Koplik spots (not spelled with C, but you get the picture: weasel man eating spots)
The Measles rash –which usually presents later –has what typical presentation?
A maculopapular rash that starts on the head and moves downward
(Think of the lady weasel –who is to the right of the weasel man to symbolize the progression of symptoms – with the ruby headband with the rubies falling down.)
Ultimately, the rash can conflate into a solid red area (like the solid red dress).
The two most serious complications of Measles are ________________.
pneumonia (like the weasel man’s untied bowtie) and subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE, like the little weasel with the turban)
What supplement has been shown to reduce the morbidity and mortality of Measles?
Vitamin A (like the A on the big weasel’s party hat)
_____________ is also in the Paramyxovirus family.
Mumps (like the MUMmy with the swollen cheeks)
Both Mumps and Measles have __________, and they also have ___________ (a protein found in the Orthomyxovirus family).
fusion protein (symbolized by the sticky stuff on the weasel kid’s hands and the mummy kid’s hands); hemagglutinin (represented by the octopus tentacles on the table by the female weasel and on the mummy’s platter)
Mumps has ______________, just like the Orthomyxoviruses.
neuraminidase
Think of the scalpel on the platter next to the octopus tentacles.
Another virus to know in the Paramyxovirus family is ____________.
respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)
Think of the baby ghosts next to the gravestone that says RSV.
RSV enters the respiratory epithelium by binding to ________.
G protein (like the G held up by one of the baby ghosts)
What virulence factor does RSV have?
Fusion protein
This one is easy to remember because respiratory SYNCYTIAL virus is, of course, going to make cells fuse.
How can RSV be treated?
With ribavirin (like the RIBs encompassing the grave area) or palivizumab (represented by the IgG-shaped rattle held by one of the baby ghosts –it’s covered in the fusion protein slime because palivizumab binds to fusion protein)
