Steve Ritchie Glossary Flashcards
microbe
a microscopic entity of viral, bacterial, fungal, protozoic, animal or plant origin
pathogen
entity that can generate disease (usually a microbe)
endemic
something generally found in a place
epidemic
increased prev/incidence of illness than normal
pandemic
epidemic that has spread to vast reaches
infection
new presence of a microbe - colonisation but is subclinical disease
infectious disease
SYMPTOMATIC illness caused by a pathogen
endogenous
originates within an organism (appendicitis)
exogenous
originated outside an organism (TB)
subclinical
infectious disease that triggers the IS but doesn’t cause symptoms
transmission
process of spreading a microbe
flavivirus
a type of RNA virus that causes a wide range of diseases. Often spread by mosquitos i.e. yellow fever, dengue, zika, hep C
arbovirus
virus spread by insect virus
epidemiology
study of disease usually in populations
fever
clinical measurement of the febrile response - poorly defined as an elevation of body temp
antibody
immune protein (also called Ig) that binds to and disables an antigen
serology
the study of blood (serum) to detect foreign antigens or antibodies specific for foreign antigen
seroconversion
development of antibodies during an infectious disease
PCR
polymerase chain reaction (know how this is performed)
filter sterilisation
use filter to remove bacteria, yeast etc but NOT virus as too microscopic
pcr
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a technique used in molecular biology to amplify a single copy or a few copies of a segment of DNA across several orders of magnitude, generating thousands to millions of copies of a particular DNA sequence.
Whooping cough
- more in young
- bordetella pertussi infection
- less due to vaccine, sanitation, antibiotics
- paroxysms/attacks of coughing, whoop, apnoea, vomitting
- lasts 6 weeks
- tissue damage from bacterial infection is what is causing these symptoms
lymphatics
Key organs of the immune system. They recognise changes in our own cells or stuff that comes into us and responds to try limit and resolve damage
Why sweat
inflam reaction
why swollen tonsils
responding to shapes on an infectious agent
Why do you get heat in inflammation?
Increase in BF/hyperaemia
What is the part of the antigen that actually gets recognised by antibodies/antigen binding receptors on lymphocytes called?
Epitopes
Is a swollen lymph node always due to an infection?
no - if you don’t have a fever than it is not likely to be due to an infection
