| A | B |
|---|
| disinfection | refers to use of physical process or chemical agent to destroy VEGETATIVE pathogens but NOT bacterial endospores |
| sterilization | process that destroys or removes all viable organisms including VIRUSES |
| antisepsis | chemical agents (antiseptics) are are applied directly to exposed body surfaces to destroy or inhibit vegetative pathogens |
| sterilization has the ability to destroys _________ | bacterial endospores |
| Antibacterial agents affect _____ | one or more cellular targets, inflicting damage progressively until the bacterial cell dies |
| What four general categories do the cellular targets of physical and chemical agents fall into? | cell walls, cell membranes, protein and nucleic acid synthesis and protein structure and function |
| broad-spectrum | drugs that are effective against a wider range of microbes (greatest range of activity) ex: tetracycline |
| narrow-spectrum | effective over a limited range os cell types (ex: bacitracin, polysporin) |
| Broad-spectrum drugs have the ________ of activity | greatest range |
| five mechanisms of drug action | inhibit cell wall synthesis, breakdown cell membrane function or structure, interfere with DNA/RNA function, inhibit protein synthesis, block key metabolic pathways |
| five mechanisms of drug resistance | development of alternate enzymes that inactivate the drug, permeability/uptake of drug into bacteria is reduced/eliminated, drugs removed by special drug transport pumps, binding sites for drugs are decreased in number/affinity, affected metabolic pathway is shut down or alternate pathway is used |
| Drug resistance | an adaptive response in which microorganisms begin to tolerate and amount of drug that would previously inhibited the micro-organism |
| Toxicity to organs | drugs adversely affect the following organs: liver, kidneys, cardiovascular system, blood forming tissues, nervous system, respiratory tract, skin, bones and teeth |
| Allergic responses to drugs | drug acts as an antigen (a foreign material capable of stimulating the immune system) and stimulates the allergic response; penicillins account for greatest number of allergies |
| Suppression and alteration of the microbiota by antimicrobials | a broad spectrum administered to treat infection can will destroy targeted agent but also but also normal flora which can allow overgrowth of microbes which can then cause a suprainfection |
| The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of a drug | the smallest concentration of drug in a series that visibly inhibits growth; useful for determining smallest effective dose |
| therapeutic index (TI) of a drug | ratio of the dose that is toxic to humans as compared to its therapuetic dose (minimally effective dose); the closer these are the greater the potential toxicity; TI of 1.1 is greater risk than TI of10 |
| decontamination | destroy or remove contaminants |
| sepsis | growth of micro-organisms in blood and other tissues |
| asepsis | any practice that blocks the entry of infectious agent into sterile tissue causing infection |
