Non-specific Defence - Questions

Question 1

What are the first sources of microorganisms that colonize a babies body?

Answer 1

The mother’s reproductive tract.

Question 2

Do normal flora ever cause disease?

Answer 2

Yes. Although our normal flora is harmless, there are some that are pathogens if they’re allowed to get into an area where they could cause infection.

Question 3

What are some of the benefits of our normal flora?

Answer 3

They inhibit other bacteria from growing. They protect us by sheer number/density, they leave very little space/resources. They produce vitamin K and vitamin B. They play a role in the development of our immune system. They might play a role in chronic illness.

Question 4

What kinds of circumstances might lead to opportunistic pathogenicity?

Answer 4

Disruptions in the immune system. Serious chronic illness. Or, the flora it’s self is disrupted.

Question 5

How does a systemic infection spread?

Answer 5

It spreads via the circulatory system or lymphatic system.

Question 6

Nonspecific defence systems are also called innate defenses, why?

Answer 6

It’s built in. Most living things have an innate immune system.

Question 7

What type of strategy are anatomical and chemical barriers?

Answer 7

Avoidance. They stop you from getting sick in the first place.

Question 8

How does the skin inhibit pathogen growth?

Answer 8

It secretes microbial substances and it is slightly acidic.

Question 9

What is the most common way that pathogens enter tissues through the skin?

Answer 9

Injury that causes the skin to break.

Question 10

Would the epithelial lining of blood and lymphatic vessels be as effective as epithelium of skin and mucous membranes?

Answer 10

No, because it’s too thin

Question 11

Openings into the body are points of vulnerability. What protective mechanisms enhance the security of these entry points?

Answer 11

Physical structures like eyebrows and eyelashes, and secretions.

Question 12

Where are white blood cells found?

Answer 12

In the blood, in the lymphatic system, and in tissues.

Question 13

What happens to a pathogen after ingestion?

Answer 13

Fusion of vacuole to a lysosome and then th me material is digested.

Question 14

What do clotting proteins achieve?

Answer 14

They help to seal off the area, preventing the infection from spreading.

Question 15

What are the components of the lymphatic system?

Answer 15

Vessels, capillaries, and lymph nodes.

Question 16

What systems depend on the lymphatic system?

Answer 16

Circulatory system and immune system.

Question 17

How does the lymphatic system resolve the amount of fluid lost by the circulatory system?

Answer 17

It picks up fluid, checks it, cleans it up, and returns it to the circulatory system.

Question 18

How does the body protect itself from pathogen and cancer cells entering the body using the increased size of lymphatic vessel openings caused by inflammation?

Answer 18

Interspersed throughout the vessel system are lymph nodes. The fluid flows through vessels into the node and then out of the node, white blood cells in the node detect infection.