Readings

Question 1

Define bactericide

Answer 1

a chemical that destroys bacteria, except for those in the endospore stage. It may or may not be effective on other microbial groups

Question 2

Define fungicide

Answer 2

a chemical that can kill fungal spores, hyphae, and yeasts

Question 3

Define virucide

Answer 3

any chemical known to inactivate viruses, especially on living tissue

Question 4

Define sporicide

Answer 4

an agent which can destroy bacterial endospores, making it a sterilizing agent

Question 5

Define germicide

Answer 5

aka microbicide

any chemical agent that kills pathogenic microorganisms

Question 6

Define disinfection

Answer 6

a physical process or chemical agent (a disinfectant) which destroys vegetative pathogens but not bacterial endospores
normally only used on inanimate objects due to concentration

Question 7

Define sepsis

Answer 7

the growth of microorganisms in the blood and other tissues

Question 8

Define asepsis

Answer 8

any practice that prevents the entry of infectious agents into sterile tissues and thus prevents infection
such as aseptic technique

Question 9

Define degermation

Answer 9

the reduction in microbial load through mechanical means in living tissues
scrubbing skin or immersing it in chemicals

Question 10

Why do detergents effect cell walls?

Answer 10

detergents are surfactants so they lower the surface tension of cell membranes with their polarity. They disrupt the membrane by binding with it with their hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions
This opens up the membrane and allows bad things to come in and good things to leak out

Question 11

Why do alcohols effect cell walls?

Answer 11

Alcohols are able to dissolve membrane lipids and strip membranes away from cells

Question 12

Are detergents more effective against gram-positive or gram-negative cell walls? Why?

Answer 12

more effective against G+ because they don’t have to work through an outer membrane to get to the sensitive parts of the cell

Question 13

Are alcohols more effective against gram-positive or gram-negative cell walls? Why?

Answer 13

more effective against G+ because they don’t have to work through an outer membrane to get to the sensitive parts of the cell

Question 14

describe the influences of nongermicidal and germicidal soaps on handscrubbing

Answer 14

Germicidal soap has persistent effects on skin over time, keeping microbial count low
without the germicide, soap does not show a sustained effect (see figure 11.18 in textbook)

Question 15

What is the advantage of the Kirby-Bauer technique?

Answer 15

advantages:

provides data on antimicrobial susceptibility and drug selection

Question 16

What is the disadvantage of the Kirby-Bauer technique?

Answer 16

disadvantages:
less effective for anaerobic, highly fastidious, or slow-growing bacteria
this includes mycobacteria

Question 17

What is the advantage of an MIC?

Answer 17

provides a quantitative rating of drug effectiveness, percise and numerical
allows testing for a wide variety of drugs and microbial types including anaerobes, mycobacteria and fungi
gives smallest effective dose

Question 18

What is the therapeutic index? Why determine it?

Answer 18

the ratio of the dose of the drug that is toxic to humans as compared to its minimum effective (theraputic) dose
helps compare drugs to find one that is most toxic to infectious agent, but least toxic to humans

Question 19

Is a smaller or larger ratio of therapeutic index more toxic?

Answer 19

the smaller the ratio, the greater potential for toxic drug reactions

Question 20

What are the specific uses for acyclovir?

Answer 20

anti-herpes drug- oral and genital, chickenpox and shingles
taken orally or topically
Mode of action:
competes for sits on replicating DNA, and once incorperated into DNA replication stops

Question 21

What are the specific uses for zidovudine (azidothymidine)?

Answer 21

treats HIV and AIDS at all stages including prophylaxis for accidental exposure
an analog of thymine that is incorporated into DNA of HIV but terminates synthesis because it does not have the right bonding sites

Question 22

What are the specific uses for ribavirin?

Answer 22

an antiviral drug which can be administered as an inhaled aeorosol against Respiratory Syncytial Virus (or pneumovirus)

Question 23

What are the specific uses for protease inhibitors (saquinavir, indinavir)?

Answer 23

helps treat HIV AIDS by preventing the cutting elongate protein strands of the virus before they are assembled into the finished viron

Question 24

What are the specific uses for amantadine?

Answer 24

almost exclusively treat influenza virus

block the hemagglutinin receptors of the virus

Question 25

list protease inhibitors

Answer 25

saquinavir

indinavir

Question 26

What are the specific uses for quinine?

Answer 26

used to be the principle treatment for malaria

Question 27

What are the specific uses for chloroquinine?

Answer 27

used against malaria by supressing acute attacks associated with infection of red blood cells
is taken alone for prophylaxis and supression of acute forms of malaria

Question 28

What are the specific uses for primaquinine?

Answer 28

used for malaria by eliminating the liver phase of infection

administered to patients with relapsing cases of malaria

Question 29

What are the specific uses for metronidazole?

Answer 29

Metronidazole: treats intestinal infections and hepatic disease

Question 30

What are the specific uses for mebendazole?

Answer 30

broad spectrum anti-paracitic drug used to treat several types of round worm infection

Question 31

What are the specific uses for thiabendazole?

Answer 31

broad spectrum anti-paracitic drug used to treat several types of round worm infection