Chapter 1

Question 1

What are subclinical/abortive infections?

Answer 1

They are infections that occur and end without causing pathological changes.

Question 2

What are opportunistic infections?

Answer 2

Infections that don’t normally cause disease but can cause disease in case the individual became immunocompromised or the microbes find their way to another site other than their normal habitat.

Question 3

What is symbiosis?

Answer 3

Two dissimilar organisms living together.

Question 4

What’s the difference between mutualism and commensalism?

Answer 4

In mutualism, both the host and the parasite benefit, while in commensalism the parasite benefits while the host remains unaffected.

Question 5

What’s pathogenicity?

Answer 5

The ability of the microbe to cause disease.

Question 6

What’s virulence?

Answer 6

A quantitative measure of pathogenicity.

Question 7

What’s the difference between endemic and epidemic?

Answer 7

Endemic means the disease is present constantly at a low level while epidemic means the disease occurs much more frequently than usual as an outbreak.