Microbe-Human Interactions

Contents 

I. Critical Thinking Questions
II. Technical Terms
III. Related Internet Sites

I. Critical Thinking Questions

  • How does microbial contamination take place?
  • When does one acquire an infection?
  • What is an infectious disease?
  • List the differences between resident, indigenous flora and microflora
  • What is a commensal?
  • What type of microorganisms constitute the normal human microbial flora?
  • What is microbial colonization?
  • Role of microbial flora and its main contribution
  • What is pathogenicity?
  • Describe ‘virulence'
  • What are opportunistic pathogens?
  • List 5 predisposing conditions for disease in immuno-compromised patients
  • List four main mechanisms of infection and disease
  • What is ‘portal of entry'?
  • What is an ‘exogenous pathogen'?
  • What is an ‘endogenous pathogen'?
  • How do bacteria attach to tissue?
  • How do viruses attach to tissue?
  • How do protozoa attach to tissue?
  • List 8 sites of the human body that harbor a normal microbial flora
  • List 10 anatomical sites which are axenic (sterile)
  • List 6 human fluids which are sterile
  • Are fluids within an organ or tissue sterile?  Explain your answer
  • Main bacterial species in intestinal flora of newborns
  • Common bacteria of the skin, oral cavity, intestine and  genital tract
  • Common fungi of the skin, oral cavity, intestine and urinary tract
  • Common protozoa found in the large intestine
  • Common arthropods of the skin
  • Estimated number of microbes found in one gram of human feces
  • What is an infectious dose?
  • Infectious dose in Q fever
  • Infectious dose in tb, giardiasis, coccidioidomycosis
  • Infectious dose in gonorrhea
  • Infectious dose in typhoid fever
  • Infectious dose in cholera
  • What does an epidemiologist do?
  • Differences between prevalence and incidence of a disease
  • \ What is a reservoir? Give an example
  • What is a source? Give an example
  • Distinguish among an endemic, sporadic, epidemic and an pandemic disease
  • When one could become a chronic carrier?
  • Who was ‘Typhoid Mary'?
  • Differences between a biological and a mechanical vector?
  • Have a close look at table 13.10 on animal hosts and zoonotic human infections
  • What are nosocomial infections?
  • List the four most common nosocomial infections (give %)
  • Name 10 fomites that you came in contact with today
  • Explain the term ‘zoonosis' and give an example
  • Describe what parts of Koch's postulates were unfulfilled by Cuban physician Jesse Lazear's experiment on the etiology of yellow fever in 1900?

II. Technical terms

  • Coliform
  • Skatole
  • Germ-free or axenic animal
  • Gnotobiotic experiment
  • STD
  • STORCH
  • Mucinase
  • Keratinase
  • Collagenase
  • Hyaluronidase
  • Coagulase
  • Toxinose
  • Toxemia
  • Intoxication
  • Endotoxin
  • LPS
  • Exotoxin
  • Hemolysin
  • Phagocytosis
  • Leukocidins
  • Necrosis
  • Localized infection
  • Systemic infection
  • Focal infection
  • Mixed infection
  • Primary infection
  • Secondary infection
  • Acute infection
  • Chronic infection
  • Sign
  • Symptom
  • Inflamation
  • Septicemia
  • Bacteremia
  • Viremia
  • Fomite
  • Droplet nuclei
  • Aerosol
  • Ethiologic agent
  • Causative agent
  • Latent microbe
  • Recurrent infection
  • Sequella

III. Related Internet Sites

  • Microbial flora of humans
  • Coliform bacteria
  • Nosocomial infections
  • Epidemiology
  • Center for Disease Control and Prevention