BIOL222: Key Themes of Infectious Diseases & SARS-CoV-2 Case Study

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering basic concepts of microbiology, epidemiology, pathogen types, antibiotic resistance, and the SARS-CoV-2 case study from BIOL222.

Epidemiology

The study of diseases in populations, specifically investigating how, when, and why they occur.

Etiology

The study of the cause of a disease.

Antibiotic Resistance (AMR)

The phenomenon occurring when microbes change over time and no longer respond to antimicrobial medications.

Obligate Pathogens

Infectious agents that strictly require a host organism to survive and cause disease.

Opportunistic Pathogens

Microbes that do not ordinarily cause disease but can become pathogenic under specific circumstances, such as when entering internal tissue or the bloodstream.

Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

An opportunistic bacterial pathogen resistant to first-line antibiotic treatments that causes skin/wound infections and pneumonia, with patients being $64\%$ more likely to die if infected with the drug-resistant form.

Florence Nightingale

A British military nurse who, in 1854 during the Crimean War, used statistical tracking to demonstrate that the vast majority of soldier deaths were caused by preventable infectious diseases rather than battle wounds.

Acellular Microbes

Non-living, non-cellular agents such as viruses, viroids, and prions that require a host organism to function and replicate.

Epidemic

A sudden, marked increase in the number of disease cases within a specific community or localized population.

Pandemic

An outbreak of a disease that afflicts people across a wide geographic area, typically spanning multiple countries or continents.

Endemic

A native disease that persists constantly or prevails within a specific geographic region.

SARS-CoV-2 Structural Anatomy

The physical structure of SARS-CoV-2 consisting of the Spike (S) protein, Nucleocapsid (N) protein, Membrane (M) protein, Envelope (E) protein, and an RNA viral genome.

ACE-2 Receptor

The specific human cell surface receptor to which the SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) protein attaches to facilitate entry into host cells.

Viral Variant

A viral strain produced by random mutations during replication and spread that alters how the virus acts within a population, such as changing transmissibility or immune evasion.

Molecular Epidemiology

The field and process of identifying the genetic basis of infectious disease using techniques such as DNA/RNA sequencing.

Bivalent Vaccine

A new-generation vaccine designed to stimulate an immune response against two or more distinct variants of a pathogen, such as the BA.4/BA.5 adapted COVID-19 vaccine.