XABY02 MICROBIAL DISEASES Flashcards
What is pathogenicity?
The ability of bacteria to cause harm
What are the two ways a bacterium can cause harm?
- Damaging host tissues by entering and reproducing inside cells
- Producing toxins
What are the four factors affecting pathogenicity?
- features of cell wall and capsule (affecting attachment and entry to host cell)
- types of toxins (endotoxins and exotoxins)
- infectivity of bacteria
- invasiveness of bacteria
What allows a bacterium to attach to protein receptors of host cell membrane?
The specific complementary structures of Ligands (polysaccharides) and Glycocalyx (glycoproteins) of bacterial cell wall
Aside from cell membrane binding, what are two other ways entry of bacteria can also occur?
- production of enzymes by pathogen, damages host cell membrane
- endocytosis, bacteria engulfed by host e.g. white blood
What is a toxin?
A molecule with harmful effects on the body
What are exotoxins?
Protein secreted or leaked from bacteria
What are endotoxins?
Lipopolysaccharides present in bacterial cell walls, usually released when bacterial cell wall breaks up after death
What determines infectivity?
The number of bacteria needed to cause infection
What is an example of a highly infective disease?
Typhoid Fever
What is an example of a disease that is not highly infective?
Food poisoning (caused by Salmonella)
What two diseases are caused by different species of Salmonella bacteria?
Typhoid Fever and food poisoning
What is invasiveness?
The ability of bacteria to spread from where it entered, to other tissues and to multiply here
Which systems play a part in the invasiveness of bacteria?
Lymph and blood (circulatory) systems
What two things must bacteria be able to do in order to be invasive?
- Avoid phagocytosis and all other body defences
2. To be able to get through tough fibres, connective tissues and intercellular cement