Week 6 - Introduction to infection and immunity Flashcards
What are saprophytic organisms?
What are symbiotic organisms?
What is a commensal organism?
What term is used to describe a damage and disease causing organism?
What are opportunist organisms?
Organisms that can cause infectious disease when man’s normal defence is impaired (in immunocomprimise)
an organism can shift catergories from symbiotic or commensal to pathogenic
How is the virulence of a pathogen assessed?
What are the features of a successful pathogen?
ability to replicate
spread from host to host
infect but not kill the host
evade eradication
What mechanisms have pathogens developed to avoid detection by their host?
How can commensal bacterial provide protection to man from pathogenic bacteria?
less surface area available for colonisation by pathogens
in the gut they assist in the digestive processes and provide many vitamins
break down fatty acids to produce bacterial substances on the skin
