MICROPARA - SEMI FINALS

• Prefix path


  Comes from the Greek word "pathos" which means disease
• Pathogen


  A microbe capable of causing a disease
• Pathology


  The study of structural and functional manifestations of a disease
• Pathologist


  A physician who has specialized in pathology
• Pathogenesis


  The steps or mechanisms involved in the development of a disease
• Infection


  Colonization by a pathogen (when a pathogen enters a person's body and establishes residence there)

  
• Infectious disease


  The pathogen may or may not go on to cause disease in the infected person
• It is possible for a person to be infected with a certain pathogen, but may not have the infectious disease caused by that pathogen
• Why infection does not always occur

  • The microbe may land at an anatomic site where it is unable to multiply
  • Antibacterial factors that destroy or inhibit the growth of bacteria
  • The indigenous microflora of that site may inhibit growth of the foreign microbe
  • The individual's nutritional and overall health status
  • The person may be immune to that particular pathogen
  • Phagocytes present in the blood and tissues may destroy the pathogen before it has an opportunity to multiply, invade, and cause disease

  
• Four periods in the course of infectious disease

  • The incubation period
  • The prodromal period
  • The period of illness
  • The convalescent period
• Incubation period


  The time that elapses between arrival of the pathogen and onset of symptoms
• Factors influencing incubation period

  • Overall health of the host
  • Immune status of the host
  • Virulence (severity or harmfulness) of the pathogen
  • Number of pathogens that enter the body
• Prodromal period


  The period characterized by the presence of early signs and nonspecific symptoms of a disease
• Period of illness


  The patient experiences the typical symptoms associated with that particular disease
• Communicable diseases are most easily transmitted during the period of illness
• Convalescent period


  The time during which the patient recovers
• Localized infection


  Affects only one body part or organ
• Localized infections

  • Pimples
  • Boils
  • Abscess
• Systemic/generalized infection


  If the pathogen is not contained at the original site of infection, they may be carried to other parts of the body

  
• Acute disease


  Has a rapid onset, usually followed by a relatively rapid recovery
• Acute diseases


  • Measles
  • Mumps
  • Influenza
• Subacute disease


  Come on more suddenly than a chronic disease but less suddenly than an acute disease
• Subacute disease

  • Subacute bacterial endocarditis
• Chronic disease


  Has a slow onset and lasts a long time
• Chronic diseases


  • Leprosy
  • TB
  • Syphilis

  
• Symptom


  Some evidence of a disease that is experienced by the patient (subjective)
• Symptoms

  • Any type of ache or pain
  • Ringing in the ear
  • Nausea
  • Dizziness
• Symptomatic disease (clinical)


  When the patient is experiencing symptoms
• Asymptomatic (subclinical)


  Patient is unaware of the disease because he/she is not experiencing symptoms
• Gonorrhea is usually symptomatic in male patients but asymptomatic in females in its early stages
• In trichomoniasis, infected women are usually symptomatic while asymptomatic in men
• These two STDs are especially difficult to control because people are often unaware that they are infected and unknowingly transmit the pathogen to others

  
• Sign


  Some type of objective evidence of a disease
• Signs

  • Abnormal breath or heart sounds
  • Blood pressure
  • Pulse rate
  • Laboratory results
• Latent infection


  An infectious disease may go from being symptomatic to asymptomatic and then some time later, go back to being symptomatic
• Latent infections

  • Herpes virus infections such as cold sores, genital herpes, shingles
  • Syphilis

  
• If not successfully treated, syphilis progresses through primary, secondary, latent, and tertiary stages

  
• Primary infection


  First disease
• Secondary infection


  Second disease, following a primary infection
• A primary infection caused by one pathogen can be followed by a secondary infection caused by a different pathogen