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Ch. 14 - Principles of Disease and Epidemiology
Tortora - Microbiology: An Introduction 14th Edition
Tortora14th EditionMicrobiology: An IntroductionISBN: 9780138200398Not the one you use?Change textbook
Chapter 14, Problem 3

Indicate whether each of the following conditions is typical of subacute, chronic, or acute infections.
a. The patient experiences a rapid onset of malaise; symptoms last 5 days
b. The patient experiences cough and breathing difficulty for months
c. The patient has no apparent symptoms and is a known carrier

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1
Understand the definitions of acute, subacute, and chronic infections: Acute infections have a rapid onset and short duration; subacute infections have an intermediate duration and progression; chronic infections develop slowly and last for a long time.
Analyze part (a): The patient has a rapid onset of malaise and symptoms lasting 5 days. Since the onset is rapid and the duration is short, this aligns with characteristics of an acute infection.
Analyze part (b): The patient experiences cough and breathing difficulty for months. A prolonged duration of symptoms over months suggests a chronic infection.
Analyze part (c): The patient has no apparent symptoms but is a known carrier. Being asymptomatic yet carrying the pathogen typically indicates a chronic or latent infection state.
Summarize the classification by matching each condition to the infection type based on symptom duration and onset speed.

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Key Concepts

Here are the essential concepts you must grasp in order to answer the question correctly.

Classification of Infections by Duration

Infections are classified based on how long symptoms last: acute infections have a rapid onset and short duration, typically days to weeks; subacute infections have a slower onset and intermediate duration; chronic infections persist for months or longer, often with prolonged symptoms.
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Symptom Onset and Progression

The timing and development of symptoms help differentiate infection types. Acute infections show rapid symptom onset and quick progression, while chronic infections develop slowly with persistent symptoms. Subacute infections fall between these extremes.
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Asymptomatic Carriers and Infection States

Some individuals harbor pathogens without showing symptoms, known as carriers. This state is important in chronic infections or latent phases, where the pathogen persists without causing active disease but can still be transmitted.
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Related Practice
Textbook Question

Which of the following statements is false?

a. E. coli never causes disease

b. E. coli provides vitamin K for its host

c. E. coli often exists in a mutualistic relationship with humans

d. A disease-causing strain of E. coli causes bloody diarrhea

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Textbook Question

Define symbiosis. Differentiate commensalism, mutualism, and parasitism, and give an example of each.

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Textbook Question

All members of a group of ornithologists studying barn owls in the wild have had

salmonellosis (Salmonella gastroenteritis). One birder is experiencing her third infection. What is the most likely source of their infections?

a. The ornithologists are eating the same food.

b. They are contaminating their hands while handling the owls and nests.

c. One of the workers is a Salmonella carrier.

d. Their drinking water is contaminated.

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Textbook Question

Which of the following is not one of Koch's postulates?

a. The same pathogen must be present in every case of the disease.

b. The pathogen must be isolated and grown in pure culture from the diseased host.

c. The pathogen from pure culture must cause the disease when inoculated into a healthy, susceptible laboratory animal.

d. The disease must be transmitted from a diseased animal to a healthy, susceptible animal by direct contact.

e. The pathogen must be isolated in pure culture from an experimentally infected lab animal.

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Textbook Question

Among hospital patients who have infections, one-third did not enter the hospital with the infection but rather acquired it in the hospital. How do they acquire these infections? What is the method of transmission of these infections? What is the reservoir of infection?

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Textbook Question

The emergence of new infectious diseases is probably due to all of the following except:

a. The need of bacteria to cause disease

b. The ability of humans to travel by air

c. Changing environments (e.g., flood, drought, pollution)

d. A pathogen crossing the species barrier

e. The increasing human population

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