Question 1

The term used to describe fungal infections is&#10;A) sepsis.&#10;B) mycoses.&#10;C) amebiasis.&#10;D) Chlamydia.

Accepted Answer

Infections caused by fungi are called mycoses.Sepsis means an overwhelming infection that may lead to shock, multiple organ failure, and death.Sepsis can be caused by any organism.Amebiasis is an infection caused by a protozoan parasite.Chlamydia is a bacterial infection.

Question 2

An infectious disease that is common in a community is termed&#10;A) endemic.&#10;B) epidemic.&#10;C) pandemic.&#10;D) partdemic.

Accepted Answer

An infectious disease that has a fairly constant presence in a community and changes little from year to year is classified as endemic.An epidemic is a significant increase in new infections in a certain population.A pandemic is an epidemic that has spread to a large geographic area, even worldwide.Partdemic is not a term that pertains to infectious diseases.

Question 3

Dietary zinc is an important defense against infection, because it maintains&#10;A) natural killer cell function.&#10;B) lymphocyte activity.&#10;C) antioxidant activity.&#10;D) neutrophil activity.&#10;E) complement activity.

Accepted Answer

Decreased availability of zinc results in a reduction in natural killer cell function, lymphocyte activity, neutrophil function, and complement activity.Zinc does not maintain antioxidant activity.

Question 4

Risk of infection is increased in&#10;A) use of corticosteroids.&#10;B) diabetes mellitus.&#10;C) spleen removal.&#10;D) stomach removal.&#10;E) stress.

Accepted Answer

Use of corticosteroids depresses immune function and increases risk of infection.Diabetes mellitus increases risk of infection due to high blood sugar, decreased resistance to infection, and inability to sense pain secondary to neuropathies.Spleen removal increases susceptibility to infection as one of its functions was phagocytosis of encapsulated bacteria.Stress increases hormones that affect immune responsiveness.The stomach is not an organ that affects immune function; therefore, removal of the stomach does not increase the risk for infection.

Question 5

The term infectivity is defined as the ability to&#10;A) cause disease.&#10;B) spread.&#10;C) cause very severe disease.&#10;D) invade and multiply.

Accepted Answer

Infectivity is the ability to invade and multiply within a host.Pathogenicity is the ability of a pathogen to cause disease.Communicability is the ability to spread.Virulence refers to the ability to cause very severe disease in all infected hosts.

Question 6

The most common method of disease transmission is&#10;A) airborne.&#10;B) droplet.&#10;C) vector.&#10;D) inoculant.

Accepted Answer

The most common transmission occurs through the exchange of body fluids (droplet)from kissing or sexual intercourse.Airborne transmission is not the most common method of disease transmission.Vector is not the most common method of disease transmission.Inoculant transmission is not the most common method of disease transmission.

Question 7

Characteristics of immunization include which of the following?&#10;A) Giving injections of preformed antibodies provides immediate immunity&#10;B) Immunization provides life-long immunity&#10;C) Immunization with killed vaccines may lead to infection from the agent&#10;D) Herd immunity controls disease without immunizing everyone in the population&#10;E) Lack of immunization may lead to an epidemic

Accepted Answer

Injections of preformed antibodies to an organism provides immediate immunity to disease caused by that organism.Herd immunity controls disease, because a certain percentage of the population is no longer susceptible to the disease.Lack of immunization may lead to an epidemic.Immunization does not provide lifelong immunity.For example, immunization with preformed antibodies is temporary.The CDC monitors disease outbreaks and recommends additional boosters for some infectious diseases.Immunization with killed vaccines does not lead to infection from the agent, as the organism is no longer living.

Question 8

Drug resistance of microbes occurs secondary to&#10;A) patient allergy to a drug.&#10;B) mutation of the microbe.&#10;C) enhance pathogenicity of the microbe.&#10;D) using high doses of drugs.

Accepted Answer

Drug resistance develops secondary to chance mutations of microbes in response to a change in the host's environment.Patient allergy to a drug does not cause drug resistance.Although drug resistance may lead to enhanced pathogenicity of a microbe, pathogenicity does not lead to drug resistance.Using low doses of a drug to treat infection leads to drug resistance.

Question 9

A characteristic of some bacteria is&#10;A) intracellular parasite.&#10;B) composed of RNA or DNA.&#10;C) contains cell wall endotoxin.&#10;D) cannot replicate extracellularly.

Accepted Answer

Some bacteria contain endotoxin in the cell wall.Viruses are intracellular parasites using host cell components to replicate; bacteria do not use host cell components to replicate.Viruses are composed of RNA or DNA, as opposed to bacteria.Bacteria can replicate extracellularly.

Question 10

Immune function is likely to be most effective in a&#10;A) newborn.&#10;B) 7-month-old infant.&#10;C) 30-year-old.&#10;D) 70-year-old.

Accepted Answer

Immune function is most effective in middle life.Newborns have an immature immune system.In older infants, maternal IgG that crossed the placenta at birth begins to fade over the first 6 months of life, and these babies are at greater risk for serious infection.Immunity tends to decline in the elderly resulting in reduced antibody responses to new antigens.The very young and the very old are more susceptible to infection because of immature or degenerating immune functions.

Deck 8: Infectious Processes