lecture 12 - viral respiratory pathogens

Question 1

What is the major cause of lower respiratory tract infections in infants?

Answer 1

RSV - respiratory syncytial virus

Question 2

What conditions are associated with RSV infection in infants?

Answer 2

Bronchitis, pneumonia, childhood asthma, Otitis media

Question 3

What is otitis media?

Answer 3

Inflammation and effusion of the middle ear

Question 4

Which virus has a strong association with the development of childhood asthma?

Answer 4

RSV

Question 5

Why are infants generally immune to RSV in the first few months of life?

Answer 5

They receive IgA maternal antibodies that subsist for the first few months after birth

Question 6

What type of virus causes the majority of common colds?

Answer 6

Rhinoviruses

Question 7

How can genetic material be exchanged between 2 different viral genomes?

Answer 7

If the 2 viruses infect the same host at the same time, there can be switching when the viruses use the same host machinery to replicated

Question 8

What type of genome does the influenza virus have?

Answer 8

RNA

Question 9

What is antigenic drift?

Answer 9

When point mutations in viruses aid in its ability to evade antibodies in the immune system

Question 10

What is antigenic shift?

Answer 10

Shift in antigenicity due to exchange of genetic material between 2 different viruses

Question 11

Does antigenic shift or drift cause seasonal epidemics?

Answer 11

Drift

Question 12

Does antigenic shift or drift cause pandemics?

Answer 12

Shift