Bacteriophage and Viral Skin Manifestations Practice Flashcards

A set of 40 vocabulary flashcards covering bacteriophage biology, viral replication pathways, skin-manifesting viral diseases, and immunization concepts based on the lecture transcript.

Bacteriophages

Also known as phages, these are viruses that specifically infect bacterial cells and do not infect animal cells.

Capsid

The 20-sided polygon or icosahedral-shaped head of a bacteriophage that contains the DNA or RNA genome.

Collar

The structure in a bacteriophage that attaches the capsid to the body and helps the virus sense its environment.

Sheath

A structure made of contractile protein that creates a tube to move nucleic acids from the capsid into the host cell.

Base plate

The part of the bacteriophage structure used for interacting with the host cell specifically for the purpose of infection.

Tail fibers

Structures used by the bacteriophage to initiate binding to specific receptors on a target host cell.

Lytic replication

A replication pathway in bacteriophages that concludes with the lysis and death of the host cell.

DNase

An enzyme contained in bacteriophages that is used to cleave and break down the host cell's DNA.

Lysozyme

A protein encoded by a phage that breaks down bacterial cell walls to facilitate the release of newly assembled viruses.

Direct entry

A method of viral entry where only the genome enters the host cell while the viral particle stays outside, typical of bacteriophages.

Lysogenic pathway

A replication pathway where the phage genome is integrated into the host's genome and replicated along with it.

Temperate phages

A category of phages, such as the lambda phage, that can utilize either the lytic or lysogenic replication pathways.

Prophage

The state of a bacteriophage genome after it has been integrated into the host cell's genome.

Abandon ship strategy

A process where a prophage excises itself from the host genome to reenter the lytic cycle when the bacterial cell faces stressors.

Viral titer

A measurement of the amount of virus present in a culture or sample, also known as the viral load.

Turbidity

The measure of cloudiness in a solution, which can be used to monitor bacterial cell density in the presence of phages.

Spectrophotometer

A machine used in labs to determine turbidity by measuring the absorbance and transmittance of light through a sample.

Epidemiology

The study of the number of infections in a population or the specific areas where infections tend to occur.

Lesion

Any observable change or abnormality that happens to the skin.

Primary lesion

An observable skin change associated with a specific disease that can serve as a diagnostic feature.

Rash

A widespread outbreak of skin lesions that may or may not be accompanied by other symptoms.

Vesicles

Small elevated skin lesions that contain clear fluid, commonly seen in infections like chickenpox.

Maculopapular rash

A rash consisting of small slightly raised lesions interspersed with macules, associated with rubella and measles.

Macules

Flat discolorations on the skin often found as part of a maculopapular rash.

Rubella

Also called German measles, this is an infection caused by the Togaviridae virus featuring a pink maculopapular rash.

Togaviridae

The viral family of enveloped single-stranded RNA viruses that causes rubella.

Congenital rubella syndrome (CRS)

A condition occurring when rubella is transmitted to a fetus, potentially causing blindness, deafness, and heart defects.

Encephalitis

A dangerous inflammation of the brain that is a rare but severe complication of rubella and measles.

Measles (Rubeola)

A highly contagious respiratory infection caused by an enveloped single-stranded RNA virus in the Paramyxoviridae family.

Conjunctivitis

Commonly known as pink eye, it is the inflammation of the clear membrane covering the eye, often a secondary infection of measles.

R naught ($R_0$)

A measure of transmissibility representing the average number of people who will contract a disease from one infected person.

Koplik's spots

Red spots with a white dot in the center that appear in the mouth about $24$ hours before the measles rash.

Mumps

An infection caused by the Paramyxoviridae family leading to the swelling of the parotid salivary glands.

Orchitis

Swelling of the testes, a symptom of mumps observed in about $50\%$ of sexually mature males.

Chickenpox

A highly contagious infection caused by the varicella-zoster virus, characterized by an itchy vesicular rash.

Shingles

A painful, banded blistered rash caused by the reactivation of the latent varicella-zoster virus in the peripheral nervous system.

Varicella-zoster virus

An enveloped double-stranded DNA virus in the Herpesviridae family that causes both chickenpox and shingles.

Live attenuated vaccines

Vaccines made from active viruses or bacteria cultured to lose pathogenicity while maintaining a robust immune response.

Smallpox

An orthopoxvirus infection eradicated in 1980, known for dome-shaped pustules with a dimple in the middle.

Fomites

Contaminated objects that can transmit infectious agents, such as the smallpox virus, through contact.