Immune System Disorders
What term describes a condition in which the immune system is weakened or unable to function properly?
Immunodeficiency
What immune cells are primarily attacked and destroyed by HIV?
CD4 helper T cells
What term describes a drug’s ability to harm a pathogen without causing significant damage to the patient?
Selective toxicity
What test uses antibiotic-containing disks and zones of inhibition to determine bacterial susceptibility?
The Kirby-Bauer disk-diffusion test
A patient is treated with an antibiotic before the specific pathogen and its antimicrobial susceptibility are known. What type of treatment is the patient receiving?
Empiric Therapy
What type of immunodeficiency is inherited or caused by a genetic defect and occurs early in life?
Primary immunodeficiency
What enzyme allows HIV to convert its RNA into DNA?
Reverse transcriptase
Beta-lactam drugs such as penicillin interfere with the formation of what bacterial structure?
The bacterial cell wall
What does MIC stand for?
Minimum inhibitory concentration
What term describes resistance that is naturally present in a microorganism before exposure to an antimicrobial drug?
Intrinsic resistance
What type of immunodeficiency may result from chemotherapy, HIV infection, malnutrition, or medications?
Secondary Immunodeficiency
HIV uses what host-cell enzyme to insert its viral DNA into the host chromosome?
Integrase
Rapid administration of which antibiotic may cause Red Man syndrome?
Vancomycin
In the Kirby-Bauer test, what does a large zone of inhibition around an antibiotic disk generally indicate?
The microorganism is susceptible to the antibiotic.
What type of resistance develops through mutation or the acquisition of resistance genes?
Acquired resistance
DiGeorge syndrome affects the development of what organ needed for T-cell maturation?
Thymus
What term describes the use of several antiretroviral medications together to suppress HIV replication?
Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART)
Name the four first-line drugs represented by the abbreviation RIPE in tuberculosis treatment.
Rifampin, isoniazid, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol
What laboratory test uses a plastic strip containing a gradient of antibiotic concentrations to determine the MIC?
The E-test
Some bacteria resist penicillin by producing what enzyme that destroys the drug’s beta-lactam ring?
Beta-lactamase
A patient develops an infection caused by an organism that normally does not cause disease in healthy people. What is this type of infection called?
An opportunistic infection
A healthcare worker experiences a needlestick involving blood from a patient with HIV. Should the worker receive PrEP or PEP?
PEP—post-exposure prophylaxis
What type of antimicrobial drug directly kills bacteria?
A bactericidal drug
A patient develops a Clostridioides difficile infection after broad-spectrum antibiotics eliminate much of the normal microbiota. What is this complication called?
A superinfection
What resistance mechanism allows a bacterial cell to pump an antimicrobial drug out before the drug can work?
Efflux pump