Week 3 Flashcards
Define bacteremia
Presence of bacteria in the blood
What is the difference between transient and continuous bacteremia?
Transient - clearance exceeds entry. Source is local Infection somewhere (skin, lungs, bone, etc.)
Continuous - Seeding exceeds clearance capacity. (Usually due to endovascular infections such as endocarditis. ) (can be caused by any bacterial species)
Define septicemia
(Sepsis syndrome)
Clearance mechanisms subverted
Name four examples of endovascular infections
Infective endocarditis Infected thrombus (in the venous system, clotting involved) Mycotic aneurysm (arterial wall infection (rare, but very dangerous)) Infections of intravascular devices such as catheters, pacemakers, arterial conduits, etc.
In blood culturing, blood must be removed ____. Why is this important? Then the blood sample is diluted into ____.
Aseptically. This is important because you dont want any of the skin flora bacteria getting in the sample. This will mess with your results.
Broth
Blood culturing is sensitive. What is the most important variable in culturing?
Important variable is volume
Side note: in regards to specificity, false positivity rate varies
True or false… in endocarditis, it doesn’t matter when you do blood culturing because the result will always be positive.
True
What are some things that predisposes a person for endocarditis?
Congenital heart disease (anatomical issues due to development)
Rheumatic heart disease (autoimmune disease)
Conditions leading to bacteremia such as dental, urological, gastrointestinal.
Intravenous drug abuse
Hospitalization
True or false… without antibiotics, the survival rate of endocarditis is 0%
True
Describe the pathogenesis of endocarditis
1) Turbulent blood flow within heart (abnormal flow)
2) endothelial cell activation
3) fibrin & platelet deposition
4) silent or clinical bacteremia seed sterile vegetations (bacteria sticks to platelet deposits)
5) bacteria grow within fibrin vegetation
Why is it that endocardium structures such as valves, chorda tendenaie, papillary muscle attachments, and atria are practically helpless at fighting infections?
These structures do not have any capillaries (thus receiving blood flow from diffusion), which are required for neutrophils to access the site of infection (margination). Thus the innate and acquired immune mechanisms are subverted.
True or false… bacteria imbedded within vegetations in the heart are easily eradicated by the immune system
False. These are nearly impossible to entirely eradicate
True or false… endocarditis is characterized by unrestricted microbial replication within vegetations leading to in-vivo bacterial colonies
True
What is the difference between major and minor bacteremia according to the Duke criteria?
Major - continuous bacteremia. Target lesion on valves or other heart structures
Minor - fever, predisposing heart condition, injection drug user, embolic phenomena, immunological phenomena.
People with endocarditis often form embolic lesions such as tender osler’s nodes and janeways lesions, roth spots. What are these embolic lesions?
Embolic lesions are due to clots/vegetations/colonies stuff that travels through the vasculature and gets stuck causing a lesion. Osler’s nodes = often found in palms, painful due to antibody-antigen complexes. Janeway lesions = found on the plantar surfaces of feet. Roth spot = lesion in fundus of stomach? Conjunctival petechiae - lesions in eyelids.
True or false.. every bacterial species has the potential to cause endocarditis
True
What are the three most common types of bacteria found to cause endocarditis?
Staphylococci (S. Aureus)
Streptococci (S. Mutans)
Enterococci (Eikienella corrodens)
Fungi - candida
Gram negative bacilli
If you find streptococcus mutans in the blood of a patient, there is a ____ chance that this patient already has endocarditis
93%
Endocarditis can result in…. (6 things)
Congestive heart failure Stroke Infarcts Glomerulonerphritis Mycotic aneurysms Abscesses (Local = myocardium, distant = embolic seeding)
In order to prevent endocarditis it is important to give prophylactic antibiotics prior to treatment to patients who… (4 things)
Have prosthetic heart valves
Have had previous endocarditis
Have congenital heart diseases
Have had a heart transplant
Describe the treatment for endocarditis
IV therapy
Bactericidal regimen
Treatment can last from 2-8 weeks
Surgery
Must eliminate every single bacterium
Cures about 97% of cases
Define symbiosis
An close, long-term interaction between individuals of different species. Usually means mutualism (both species benefit) but may also refer to other interactions such as commensalism, inquilinism, and parasitism
What is the difference between commensalism and parasitism?
Commensalism - one benefits, the other is unaffected
Parasitism - one benefits, the other is harmed. These are organisms that gains its nourishment from and lives in or on another organism.
What is the difference between parasites and pathogens?
Pathogens are actually parasites
Pathogens: an agent that causes disease, especially a virus, bacterium, or fungus
What is the difference between obligatory parasite and facultative parasite?
Obligatory parasite: parasite that is unable to survive outside of its host.
Facultative parasite: parasite that is able to exist independent of its host. (However, i prefers to live with a host)
What is the difference between an endoparasite and an ectoparasite?
Endoparasite: parasite that is established inside the body
Ectoparasite: parasite that is established on the exterior surface of its host.
What is the difference between a definitive host and an intermediate host?
Definitive host: host in which the adult and/or sexual phase of a parasite occurs
Intermediate host: host in which the the larval and/or asexual phase of a parasite occurs
What is the difference between an accidental/incidental host and a reservoir host?
Accidental/incidental host: host other than the normal host that is harboring the parasite.
Reservoir host: host that harbors a parasite that is also parasitic for humans and from which humans may be infected. (Rodents were reservoir hosts for the bubonic plague)
True or false… parasites can go through more than one intermediate host
True
What is the difference between the infective stage and the diagnostic stage? (In regards to mode of transmission of parasites)
Infective stage: stage in the parasite life cycle that is capable of invading a definitive host
Diagnostic stage: stage in the parasitic life cycle that can be identified by examining appropriate specimens from the host.
Parasitic infections are often referred to as ____
Infestations
What are the five different types of protozoan parasites?
Amoebas, flagellates, ciliates, apicomplexans, sporozoans
What are the two types of helminths?
Platyhelminthes (flatworms)
Nematoda (roundworms, nematodes)
What are the organelles of locomotion and the method of replication for the following protozoa?
Amoebas Ciliates Flagellates Apicomplexans Sporozoans
Amoebas: pseudopods, binary fission
Ciliates: cilia, binary fission
Flagellates: flagella, binary fission
Apicomplexans/sporozoans: flagella (or none), schizogony or sporogony
What are the two life stages in most parasitic amoebas and flagellates?
Trophozoites
Cysts