Theme 4 - Introduction to medical microbiology Flashcards

1
Q

what are the main bacterial infections seen in primary care?

A

UTI, chest infection, sore throat

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

what are the main bacterial infections seen in secondary care?

A

community acquired and hospital acquired infections

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

give one example of community and one example of hospital acquired infection

A

community - cellulitis or pneumonia, hospital - vascular line infection

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

how is a hospital acquired infection defined?

A

infection is acquired 48 hours after admission to hospital

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

at any given time what % of hospital patients are on antibiotics?

A

25%

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

what % of antibiotic use is in primary care?

A

80%

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

how are taxonomic names written

A

genus + species

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

what is staphylococcus aureus

A

a staphylococcal infection found on the skin

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

what is streptococcal pyogenes?

A

strep throat

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

what are the three components of the tree of life?

A

eukaryotes, archaea and bacteria

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

is bacteria eukaryotic or prokaryotic?

A

prokaryotic

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

name three eukaryotes that can cause human disease

A

fungi - candida, protazoa - malaria, helminths - tapeworm

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

list four key features of prokaryotes

A

no nucleus/membrane bound organelles, haploid, 70s ribosomes, peptidoglycan cell wall

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

list four key features of eukaryotes

A

membrane bound nucleus, diploid, 80s ribosome, no cell wall (unless plant or fungi)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

what % of bacteria are medically important?

A

<0.01%

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

what are round bacteria called?

A

coccus/cocci (streptococcus)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

what are long bacteria called?

A

bacillus/bacilli (enterobacter)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

what are oval shaped bacteria called?

A

coccobacillus

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

what are long and curved bacteria called?

A

vibrio (cholera)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

how do different coccus arrange?

A

staphylococcus - clusters, streptococcus - chains and diplococci - pairs

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

what does gram staining depend on?

A

amount of peptidoglycan in the cell wall

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

describe the gram staining process

A

dry sample on a glass plate, stain with crystal violet and set with iodine, decolourise with alcohol or acetone, counterstain with safranin

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

what type of bacteria retains the staining when washed with alcohol?

A

gram positive

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

what colour is safranin?

A

pink

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

If a bacteria stains purple, what is it?

A

gram positive

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

if a bacteria stains pink, what is it?

A

gram negative

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

what aspects of bacteria can be exploited to diagnose infection?

A

patterns of growth down the microscope (chains or clusters), patterns of growth on culture medium (colonies formed and enzymes excreted), requirements for growth (atmospheric and nutrients)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

what are two key features of bacterial aerobes?

A

use oxygen in final stage of metabolism and grow efficiently in oxygen rich conditions

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

what are three key features of obligate anaerobes?

A

only grow in oxygen absent environments, metabolise glucose to lactic acid, oxygen is usually toxic

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

what is a facultative anaerobe?

A

prefers anaerobic conditions but can grow in aerobic - carbon dioxide is not toxic to them

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

what substances do bacteria bring in, as they cant be made?

A

purine, pyrimidines, amino acids and vitamins

32
Q

what nutritional requirements does e coli need to grow?

A

glucose and inorganic salts (easy to grow in lab)

33
Q

what type of bacteria is hard to grow in the lab as it needs specialised medium?

A

treponema pallidum (syphillis)

34
Q

what are the three main things used for growth/selection of bacteria in the lab?

A

temperature, pH and salt content

35
Q

give three examples of medically important gram positive cocci

A

streptococci, staphylococci and peptococcus (strict anerobes)

36
Q

give three examples of medically important gram negative cocci

A

neisseria (meningitidis and gonnorhea)

37
Q

give three examples of medically important gram positive rods

A

bacillus (B. anthracis), clostridium dificle, corynebacterium, propiobacterium

38
Q

give three examples of medically important gram negative rods

A

haemophilus influezae, eserischa coli, campylobacter/helicobacter, psueudomonas, salmonella, bacterocides (strict anaerobes)

39
Q

which bacteria lack a cell wall?

A

mycoplasma (pneumoniae) and chlamidiya (trachomatis)

40
Q

which bacteria do have a cell wall but it doesn’t stain well?

A

mycobacteria (pneumoniae)

41
Q

name two key features of a gram positive bacterial envelope

A

thick peptidoglycan cell wall and lipoteichoic/teichoic acid

42
Q

what type of bacteria have a thick peptidoglycan cell wall?

A

gram positive

43
Q

name three key features of a gram negative bacterial envelope

A

thin peptidoglycan cell wall, additional outer membrane, lipopolysaccharide

44
Q

what three things are determined by the bacterial envelope?

A

gram staining, susceptibility to antibiotics and pathogenicity

45
Q

what type of bacteria are endotoxin found in?

A

LPS - only in gram negative bacteria

46
Q

what type of bacteria are exotoxins found in?

A

gram positive and gram negative

47
Q

name two infections that secrete exotoxins

A

streptococcus pyogenes - toxic shock syndrome, clostridium botulinum - botulism (botox)

48
Q

name three key features of peptidoglycans

A

3D polymer made of N-acetylated sugars (NAG and NAM), 3-5 amino acid peptides that cross link to the sugars via transpeptidase enzyme, amino acid and NAG/NAM make strong rigid cell wall to protect against degradation

49
Q

what enzyme links NAG/NAM to the amino acids peptides in a peptidoglycan cell wall?

A

transpeptidase enzymes

50
Q

what are the three key features of synthesising a bacterial peptidoglycan cell wall?

A

polymerisation of sugars (to make backbone), elongation of side chains (to add to the peptide) and transpeptidase ( for cross linking)

51
Q

which steps of peptidoglycan synthesis are target by antibiotics?

A

all of them - interact with enzymes, ribosomes or polymerisation of sugars to affect integrity of bacterial cells wall

52
Q

name two features of a mycobacterium cell wall

A

gram positive with thick lipid membrane anchored to a peptidoglycan layer, doesn’t gram stain

53
Q

name three causes of TB

A

m.tuberculosis, m.bovis, m.africanum

54
Q

name two atypical mycobacteria

A

m.ulcerans, m.kansassi

55
Q

what is a bacterial capsule made from

A

polysaccharide

56
Q

name three key features of a bacterial capsule

A

hides the cell wall (immune system cant detect the endotoxin on the cell wall), can be toxic or pathogenic, is a metabolic burden on the bacteria

57
Q

name four key features of bacterial ribosomes

A

70s (50s and 30s subunits), contain RNA and proteins, engines of protein synthesis

58
Q

name two things bacterial RNA can be used for

A

antibiotic target and diagnostic testing

59
Q

name two mobile genetic elements

A

plasmids and transposons

60
Q

name four key features of plasmids

A

loops of extra chromosomal DNA, replicate independently, code for lots of genes (can behave like viruses), can be swapped between bacteria

61
Q

name three key features of transposons

A

small, skip around the genome, encode tranposase, disrupt DNA causing different proteins to be produced, move within genomic DNA or between plasmids

62
Q

what is the main feature of mobile genetic elements

A

code for toxins and antibiotic resistance genes

63
Q

is bacterial DNA enclosed in a membrane bound nucleus?

A

no - easy for DNA processes to occur alongside cellular processes and for DNA transfer

64
Q

name two spore forming bacteria

A

clostridium and bacillus

65
Q

what are three key features of bacteria in a spore?

A

dormant, dont replicate, are alive

66
Q

what conditions are spore forming bacteria resistant to?

A

drying, high/low temperature, disinfection and enzyme digestion

67
Q

how do you get rid of spore forming bacteria?

A

prolonged exposure to very high temperatures and sterilisation

68
Q

how long can bacteria stay in spores?

A

thousands or millions of years

69
Q

what happens in the lag phase of bacterial growth?

A

genes are switched on and prepare to grow in a response to sugar or oxygen (no increase in cell number yet)

70
Q

what happens in the exponential phase of bacterial growth?

A

cell doubling and growth

71
Q

at what phase of bacterial growth is infection seen?

A

exponential phase - slope of the curve represents the growth rate of the organism in that environment

72
Q

what happens at the stationary phase of bacterial growth?

A

divison stops, nutrients become depleted and there is a build up of metabolites such as lactic acid

73
Q

what happens in the death phase of bacterial growth?

A

nutrients are exhausted, environment becomes toxic and cells die

74
Q

how do bacteria sense and adjust to their environment? (gene regulation)

A

change rate of growth and regulate metabolic pathways

75
Q

what does control of bacterial gene regulation allow?

A

regulation of virulence factors - adhesion molecules, production of enzymes to degrade host proteins, degrade immune mediators or lyse host cells

76
Q

what is observed in the exponential phase of bacterial growth?

A

superficial infection eg bacteria detected in blood

77
Q

what is observed in the stationary phase of bacterial growth?

A

abcess - lots of bacteria in a small space that becomes toxic