Concept Questions

Take some time to write answers to these questions. If you can answer them, you have a good grasp of the material!

1. Differentiate between the pathologies in staphylococcal infections and toxinoses.

2. Explain how the actions of each of the following make all of them virulence factors:

hemolysins
leukocidin
kinases
hyaluronidase

3. Describe the normal habitat of Staphylococcus aureus.

4. Distinguish between the four main "staph" skin infections.

5. Define the term abscess, and describe at least two kinds that are caused by staph species.

6. What does it mean to say osteomyelitis is a focal infection? What conditions favor staph food poisoning? What conditions favor toxic shock syndrome?

7. Describe the principal role of the coagulase-negative staphylococci in disease. Describe the usual habitats of these staphylococci.

8. Compare the symptoms of streptococcal and staphylococcal impetigo.

9. Describe the major group A streptococcal infections. Why is a "strep throat" a cause for concern?

10. Discuss the apparent pathology at work in rheumatic fever and acute glomerulonephritis.

11. How are group B streptococci important? How is the genus Enterococcus different from the genus Streptococcus? What is the medical significance of enterococci and group C and G streptococci?

12. How does lobar pneumonia arise? How is it different from bronchial pneumonia? What causes the patient to get a blue tinge to his mucous membranes? Explain how children acquire otitis media.

13. Compare and contrast the characteristics of male and female genital gonorrhea. Describe at least two extragenital complications of gonorrhea. Explain how neonates become infected with N. gonorrhoeae and describe the disease symptoms.

14. Describe the pathway that N. meningitidis takes from infection in the nasopharynx to the brain. Describe the specific virulence factors that cause symptoms of meningitis.

15. Single matching. Only one description in the right-hand column fits a word in the left-hand column.

1. furuncle	a. complete red blood cell lysis
2. osteomyelitis	b. substance involved in heart valve damage
3. coagulase	c. dissolves blood clots
4. pyrogenic toxin	d. enzyme of pathogenic S. aureus
5. rheumatic fever	e. cutaneous infection of group A streps
6. b-hemolysis	f. solidification of pockets in lung
7. Consolidation	g. unique pathologic feature of N. gonorrhoeae
8. viridans streptococci	h. a boil
9. Erysipelas	i. cause of tooth abscesses
10. Endocarditis	j. focal infection of long bones
11. Streptolysin	k. heart colonization by viridans streps
12. Streptokinase	l. cause of scarlet fever
13. X	m. long-term sequelae of strep throat

16. Multiple matching. Match the bacterium in the left-hand column with its characteristic. More than one characteristic may fit each bacterium.

1. Staphylococcus aureus	a. bacitracin sensitivity
2. Streptococcus pyogenes	b. diplococcus
3. Streptococcus pneumoniae	c. causes pneumonia
4. Neisseria gonorrhoeae	d. complication is glomerulonephritis
5. Neisseria meningitidis	e. infects female reproductive tract
6. Enterococcus faecalis	f. resident of nasopharynx
	g. is in clusters
	h. is in chains
	i. has a capsule
	j. catalase production

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