Unit 6: Flashcards
what are the major groups of infectious organisms
prions, viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites
what is a parasite
organisms which live within another living organism at whose expense it obtains some advantage
what kinds of organisms are most often parasites
protozoa, metazoa, arthropods
least to most complex infectious agents
prions, viruses, intracellular bacteria, mycoplasma, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, metazoa + arthropods
what are obligate intracellular organisms
- require a host cell to grow and multiply using its metabolic machinery
- tend to infect parenchymal cells
- include viruses, prions, rickettsiae and chlamydiae
extracellular organisms
- multiply outside of a host cell
facultative intracellular organisms
- can grow inside and outside of cells
- include mycobacteria and some fungi
what is morbidity
the degree to which a disease can impair normal functioning
what is mortality
the state of being subject to death
what’s case fatality
specific measure that calculates the proportion of deaths from a disease against the total number of diagnosed cases
what is an epidemic
the occurrence of cases of a disease exceeds what was normally expected
what is infectivity
the ability of an organism to colonize tissues
what is pathogenicity
the ability of an organism to cause disease
low vs high grade pathogens
low grade = only cause disease in immunocompromised hosts (opportunistic infections)
high grade = virulent pathogens, cause disease in even healthy hosts
how does an organism gain entry into the body
through natural passages
- typically mucosal or epithelial barriers
- portals of entry = skin, respiratory tract, urogenital tract
- can also gain entry via trauma and direct inoculation
- heart, bones, brain and muscle can only be infected via the blood
4 principle methods of spread of infection…
- physical contact
- airborne infection
- food-borne infection
- insect-borne infection
when a microorganism enters a tissue 3 things can happen…
- the invader dies due to non-specific and specific defences (most common)
- the invader may survive without giving rise to obvious clinical disease, but cause an immune response
- the invader survives, multiplies and produced clinical disease
the pathogen itself plus the host and environment influence the outcome of exposure to a pathogen…
the pathogen: the virulence and dose of its exposure
the host/environment: the status of the primary defences of the host and the immune status of the host
when does infection occur
when an infectious agent has entered and multiplied in a host
- infect does not necessarily mean disease
subclinical infection
development of an immune response but disease is not clinically apparent
clinically apparent infection
when the infectious agent has survived and multiplied in the host, causing tissue damage
example of infection spread more widely: poliomyelitis
- the casual enterovirus enters via the intestinal tract but there is no sign of intestinal infection
how can you diagnose different infections in the bloodstream
- viremia, bacteremia and fungemia can be diagnosed using blood cultures, serology and molecular techniques
- parasitemia is diagnosed by identifying the parasite in blood smears
what is bacteremia
- the presence of viable bacteria in the bloodstream
2 types… - transient bacteremia = body removes small numbers of bacteria in the bloodstream
- severe bacteremia = large numbers of bacteria in the bloodstream are capable of overwhelming the body’s defences
what is toxemia
presence of toxins produced by bacteria within the bloodstream
what is sepsis/septicemia
a disease state that arises from the presence of bacteria or their toxic byproducts in the blood
- results in a clinical syndrome characterized by fever, vasodilation and decreased BP
- in these cases, subsequent shock and DIC result in death
what are virions
free inactive virus particles
general structure of viruses
- central core of nucleic acids
- protein coat or capsid
- an outer lipid envelope in some
virus life cycle and how they invade cells
- virus binds to receptors on cell via viral surface ligands
- virus penetrates cell by fusion, endocytosis or translocation
- virus is uncoated inside the cell and genome separates
- virus initiates translation and transcription
- new viral protein s are made
- new virions are assembled and released directly or by budding
tropism of poliomyelitis and HepA
poliomyelitis = motor neurone of the CNS
Hep A = cells of the liver
how do viruses cause injury to their host
viral mediated cell necrosis, via either…
1. viral mediated cytopathic injury
2. Virally mediated alteration of apoptosis pathway
examples of viral mediated cytopathic injury
- cell lysis: occurs during virus replication and release, interferes with cell function
- inhibition of DNA, RNA or protein synthesis: causes subtle cell dysfunction or death
- direct insertion of viral proteins into membrane: alters membrane function/integrity or promotes fusion with neighbouring cells
what are inclusion bodies
assembled viral particles formed during viral replication
- can occur in cytoplasm or nucleus
- in rabies virus infection produces eosinophilic inclusion bodies in the cytoplasm of neurons
what are cytopathic viruses
viruses that cause extensive necrosis or target cells and result in cell death
cytopathic virus example: Ebola virus
- a filovirus which causes necrosis resulting in disseminated hemorrhage (and shock) and DIC
what are filoviruses
enveloped RNA viruses that are highly cytopathic and result in cytolysis
- spread between humans is by contact with secretions or reuse of undterblized needles
what are persistent/chronic viral infections
viruses that result in slow and progressive cell death
- examples are HepB and HepC
what is Cirrhosis
loss of normal lobular architecture of the liver as a result of necrosis, scarring by fibrosis and nodular regeneration
- may occur with chronic intoxication, leads to diminished liver function
examples of virally-mediated alteration of apoptosis pathways
- host cells mat undergo self-directed apoptosis to control and eliminate infected cells
- some viruses encode genes that impair apoptosis to promote persistent viral infection
the antiviral immune response
- obligate intracellular pathogens induce an acute response with lymphocytes, plasma cells and macrophages
how does the body attempt to eliminate a virus
- viral proteins on the surface of the host are recognized as foreign by cytotoxic T cells
- this induced a cell-mediated immune response and cytolysis
- the body attempts to eliminated virally infected cells - the host response may result in cell death and associated illness
hepatocellular loss associated with HepB is mediates by…
cytotoxic T-cell mediated cytolysis
how the body produces IFN as a response to viral infection
- IFN is produced by helper T cells in the Th1 response
- the antiviral effects of IFN are due to interference of viral translocation
- IFN is also secreted by fibroblasts and macrophages following exposure to a virus
the presence of what suggests response to a viral pathogen rather than a bacterial pathogen
lack of neutrophil response and increased number of lymphocytes that accompany viral infection
virally induced transformation
transformation causes cells to become immortal and grow independently of growth-regulating signals
- results in cancer
what is the EBV
a herpes virus which causes several neoplasms such as nasopharyngeal carcinoma and Burkitt’s lymphoma
what are latent viral infections
- when viral genes remain in surviving target cells for long periods but are not expressed
- lead to disease later in life
- commonly associated with neoplastic transformation
properties of herpes virus
- causes latent infections, most prevalent virus in the population
- large double stranded DNA viruses
- ubiquity of herpes infection is related to their inability to remain latent and that they are highly contagious
- HSV-1 causes oral lesions, HSV-2 causes genital lesions
how does chickenpox in childhood lead to shingles in later life
- the casual herpes virus may remain dormant for years in neurone and then be reactivated causing shingles
- shingles is caused by reactivated virus travelling down sensory nerves
outcomes of viral infection
- acute cytolysis or necrosis of target cells may result in organ dysfunction or death
- outcome of less severe infection is most likely survival
- recovery is associated with an appropriate immune response that neutralizes the virus