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29 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Define an infection 'reservoir'.
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Reservoir: habitat where microorganisms can persist for long periods
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Define an 'endemic disease'
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one where there is a permanent reservoir in the community
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Define: Source of infection
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the person or object where the person actually gets the infection from
(may be the reservoir may be via something else) |
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Define: Fomite
and give 3 examples |
Inanimate object that can carry microorganisms on its surface
Examples: Medical equipment and instruments Soiled linen and dressings Keys, Utensils |
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Define: Endogenous infection
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An infection in which the patient's own body is the reservoir
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Define: Opportunistic infection
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An infection by an organism that isn't normally pathogenic, but 'takes advantage of' a debilitated host
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Define: Carrier
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a person who harbors and sheds the disease without showing any symptoms
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Define: Active carriers
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Individuals who release the organism for a long time after recovering
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Define: Passive carriers
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Individuals who release organisms without ever having shown symptoms
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Define: Convalescent carriers
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Individuals who release the organisms while they are recovering
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Define: Zoonoses and give 3 examples
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diseases which can be transmitted from animals to humans:
Toxoplasmosis Rabies Malaria Plague |
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Define: portal of entry
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A site that provides access to tissues where environmental and nutritional conditions are conducive to establishing infection and where local defence mechanisms fail to subdue the pathogen.
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Define: Communicable diseases
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Diseases which spread from one person to another.
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List 2 forms of direct transmission
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a) By skin contact.
b) Mucous membrane to mucous membrane contact: e.g. kissing or sexual contact |
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Define: Indirect Transmission and give 3 examples
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Infectious agents are transferred through being carried by some intermediary, such as:
Fomite Droplet, Vehicle or Vector |
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Describe the process of droplet transmission and describe droplet nuclei
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Droplets are produced
Moisture evaporates Droplet nuclei remain Small, light, hold microorganisms, stay suspended in air Bypass URT defences |
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Describe good cough etiquette
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cover the nose and mouth with a tissue or the upper sleeve. Do NOT use the hands, they may transmit the infection to objects touched
Put used tissues in the rubbish bin. Then wash your hands Sit more than a meter away from coughing individuals. If you must be in public when you are sick, tell people not to get too close, and don’t shake hands. |
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Define: Vehicle
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A method of transmitting infections over a wide area, or to a lot of people, eg
Air Food Water |
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Descibe how air acts as a vehicle of transmission
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Air currents carry
dust particles which include skin squames, particles from wounds, bacteria, fungal spores, bacterial endospores, These are disturbed when making beds, moving equipment, cleaning Wet mopping, don’t shake linen, masks Aerosols, including those from URT |
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Why is food an easy vehicle of infection? Give 3 examples of food-borne infections.
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Can be contaminated without obvious deterioration
-Salmonella in raw chicken -Listeria (deli products) -Staphylococcus aureus |
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List 4 diseases in which water is a vehicle of transmission
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Digestive tract infections
Diarhoea Hepatitis Polio Typhoid Cholera |
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Define: Vectors
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Living Organisms that transmit disease (usually insects)
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Define: Mechanical Vector
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An organism that simply transports the disease on its body.
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Define: Biological Vector
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An organism in which a microbe lives part of its life cycle
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Define: Endemic:
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Constantly present, e.g. cold, flu, mumps
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Define: Epidemic
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Significantly more than the normal number of cases of an illness in a particular location
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Define: Pandemic
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A series of outbreaks of the same illness in a range of locations, the disease spreads worldwide
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Define: Sporadic (diseases)
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Occurs occasionally eg tetanus, gas gangrene
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Define: Non-endemic
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Diseases which are controlled as a result of immunisation and sanitation eg smallpox, polio
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