UNIT 1

MICROBIOLOGY & THE NATURE OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE

Objectives & Student Learning Outcomes: Students should be able to demonstrate the following
knowledge after completing this Unit.
I. The microbial world consists of living and nonliving members. The living organisms are classified
into six basic categories: Bacteria, Archaea, Fungi, Protozoa, Algae and parasitic worms. Viruses and
prions, both considered non-living, are also included in the study of microbiology.
Pre-Requisite Objectives:
1.

Use the cell theory and the characteristics of life to discuss why viruses and prions are
considered to be non-living.
Viruses are considered non-living because they dont have a cytoplasm and lack many of the
functional organelles seen in cells. Thus, they are incapable of metabolic activity and require a
host to reproduce and function.

Preparation Objectives:
1.

Describe the characteristics of bacteria and Archaea.

2.

They are both prokaryotic- lack nuclei; their genes are not surrounded by a membrane
Bacterial cells walls are composed of peptidoglycan (polysaccharide)
Archaea lack peptidoglycan and are composed of other chemicals
Both reproduce asexually
Both are much smaller than eukaryotic cells
Live singly or in pairs or clusters in habitat containing sufficient moisture
Archaea are found in extreme environments (Not known to cause disease)
Most bacteria is beneficial to us: degrade plants and animals and release phosphorus,
sulfur, nitrogen, and carbon back into the air, soil and water (pg. 3)

Describe the characteristics of fungi

Eukaryotic; each of their cells contains a nucleus composed of genetic material

surrounded by a distinct membrane
Obtain their food from other organisms (rather than make it for themselves)
They differ from animals by having cell walls
Include some molds and yeasts
Molds are typically multicellular organism that grow as long filaments that
intertwine to make up the body of the mold

3.

Describe the characteristics of protozoa.

4.

Molds reproduce by sexual and asexual spores (which are cells that
produce new individual without fusing with another cell)
o Cotton growths on cheese, bread, and jams are molds
o Penicillium chrysogenum is a mold that produces penicillin
Yeasts are unicellular and typically oval to round
Reproduce asexually by budding ( a process in which a daughter cell grows off
the mother cell
Some yeasts also produce sexual spores
Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which causes bread to rise and produce alcohol from
sugar
Candida albicans causes most cases of yeast infections in women (pg. 4)

Single-celled eukaryotes
Most are capable of locomotion (one way scientists categorize them)
Pseudopodia:
Extensions of a cell that flow in the direction of travel
Cilia:
Numerous, short protrusions of a cell that beat rhythmically to propel the
protozoan through environment
Flagella:
Extensions of a cell but are fewer, longer and more whiplike than cilia
Protozoa typically live freely in water, but some live inside animal hosts, where they
cause disease
Most reproduce asexually and some sexually as well (pg. 4)

Describe the characteristics of Algae.

Unicellular or multicellular photosynthetic organisms; make their own food from

carbon dioxide and water using energy from sunlight
Differ from plants in that they are more simple in reproductive structure
Categorized on the basis of their pigmentation and the composition of their cell walls
Large algae, called seaweeds and kelps found in ocean; their chemicals from gelatinous
cell walls are used as thickeners and emulsifiers in many food and cosmetic products
Unicellular algae are common in freshwater ponds, streams, and lakes and oceans
Major food of small aquatic and marine animals
Provide most of the worlds oxygen as a by-product of photosynthesis
Glasslike cell walls of diatoms provide grit for many polishing compounds (pg. 5)

5.

Describe the characteristics of parasitic worms.

Range in size from microscopic forms to adult tapeworms over 7 meters long
Usually live in intestines of a host and cause disease and disorder (pg. 5)

II. Cells are the basic units of life.

Pre-Requisite Objectives:
1.

Describe the principles of the cell theory.

2.

Describe the basic structures shared by all prokaryotic cells.

3.

All life is made up of cells

Cells are the smallest unit of life
All cells come from preexisting cells

They all have a membrane, genetic content, ribosomes and cytoplasm

Unicellular
No nucleus
Lack many organelles such as mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum etc.

Describe the basic structures shared by all eukaryotic cells.

The all have a membrane, genetic content, ribosomes, cytoplasm and nucleus
Multicellular
Nucleus present
Have mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum etc.

Preparation Objectives
1.

Describe the Theory of Spontaneous Generation.

Abiogenesis
Living things arose from nonliving matter
Ex. Appearance of maggots on spoiling meat (pg. 8)

2.

Describe the key experiments by Redi and Pasteur that disproved the theory of spontaneous
generation.

3.

Francesco Redi (1627-1697)Demonstrated by a series of experiments that when

decaying meat was kept isolated from flies, maggots never developed, whereas meat
exposed to flies was infested
Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)
Boiled infusions long enough to kill everything. Then he bent the flasks neck
into an S-shape, which allowed air to enter while preventing the introduction of
dust and microbes into the broth
Even after 18 months his swan-necked flask remained free of microbes
He broke the necks off some flasks, exposing the liquid in them directly to the
air, and carefully tilted others so that liquid touched the dust that had
accumulated in their necks. The next day, all of the flasks were cloudy with
microbes. (pg. 8-9)

Describe the role microorganisms play in the environment.

Play are role in processes such as the production of vitamins and bioremediation- the use
of living bacteria, fungi, and algae to detoxify polluted environments
Play a role in the decay of dead organisms and the recycling of chemicals such as carbon,
nitrogen and sulfur.
Cause disease (pg. 20)

III. Most microorganisms do not cause disease and many play important roles in health and the
environment. Some microorganisms do cause infectious disease and are called pathogens.
Preparation Objectives
1.

Define the germ theory of disease.

2.

Microorganisms are responsible for diseases

Only applies to infectious diseases (pg. 13)
List and describe Kochs Postulates.

Series of steps that must be taken to prove the cause of any infectious disease:
1. The suspected causative agent must be found in every case of the disease and be
absent from healthy hosts
2. The agent must be isolated an grown outside the host
3. When the agent is introduced to a healthy, susceptible host, the host must get the
diseases
4. The same agent must be found in the diseased experimental host (pg. 14)

3.

Define emerging disease and re-emerging disease.

4.

Identify some of the factors that are leading to an increase in the number of emerging and reemerging diseases that are seen today.

5.

Emerging: Acanthamebiasis, Australian bat lyssavirus, Babesia, atypical, Hepatitis C,

helicobacter pylori, Hepatitis E, parvovirus B19
Re-emerging: Enterovirus 71, Mumps virus, Streptococcus Group A, Staphylococcus
aureus, clostridium difficile (www.niaid.nih.gov)

Describe three types of reservoirs of infection in humans.

7.

Climate and weather

Changing ecosystems
Human demographics and behavior
International travel and commerce
Technology and industry
Breakdown of public health measures
Poverty and social inequality
War and famine
Lack of political will
Microbial adaptation and change
(www.niaid.nih.gov)

Identify several current emerging or re-emerging diseases.

6.

Emerging diseases include outbreaks of previously unknown diseases or known

diseases whose incidence in humans has significantly increased in the past two decades
Re-emerging diseases are known diseases that have reappeared after a significant
decline in incidence. (www.niaid.nih.gov)

Animal reservoirs
Human carriers
Nonliving reservoirs: soil, water and food (pg. 415-416)

Describe the modes of infectious disease transmission in humans.

Skin contact
Mucous Membrane
Blood Contact
Placenta

Feces, Urine (pg. 417)

Class/SynthesisStudent learning Outcomes

1.

2.

3.

4.

Describe Robert Kochs contribution to microbiology.

He proved that microorganisms caused diseases
Developed the postulates
Discovered the anthrax bacterium
Compare and contrast Kochs Postulates and the Molecular Kochs Postulates.
Kochs Postulates examine the presents of a bacterium in a host
Molecular postulates examine the bacterium itself
Describe how the germ theory of disease has impacted and caused changes in society.
People wash their hands, their bodies, sanitize equipment, filter water, clean surfaces
and create vaccines. All of these things were influence by the germ theory and as a
result society is healthier and in better control of diseases
Describe the ethical and medical challenges of the carrier state in treating infectious disease.
Ethical: should a person with no symptoms be locked away?
Medical: carrier state is hard to detect and so can easily spread

IV. Public health education and policies are important in controlling the spread of infectious
diseases. Outbreaks of infectious diseases often follow natural disasters or wars and may be first line
indicators of a breakdown in infrastructure.
Preparation Objectives:
1.

Define epidemiology.

2.

Define nosocomial infections.

3.

Study of where and when diseases occur, and how they are transmitted within
population. (pg. 430)

Infections acquired by patients or health care workers while they are in health care
facilities, including hospitals, dental offices, nursing homes, and doctors waiting rooms
(pg. 435)

Describe the three ways public health agencies work to limit the spread of disease.

Enforce standards of cleanliness in water and food supplies

Work to reduce the number of disease vectors and rservoirs
Establish and enforce immunization schedules
Locate and prophylactically treat individuals exposed to contagious pathogens

4.

Define potable water.

5.

Water safe enough to be consumed by humans with very low risks of causing harm

Define coliform.

6.

Establish isolation and quarantine measures to control the spread of pathogens (pg.
438)

Colon-dwelling bacteria
They are aerobic or facultatively anaerobic that ferment lactose to form gas within 48
hours of being placed in a lactose broth at 35 degrees celcius.
Live inside intestinal tracts of animals and humans
Can survive in soil and on plants and decaying vegetation
Presence in water indicates poor sewage treatment (pg. 714)

Identify the methods for ensuring clean drinking water.

Sedimentation: water is pumped into holding tanks where particulate materials (sand,
silt, organic material) settle
Flocculation: partially clarified water is then pumped into a secondary tank for
flocculation, in which alum (aluminum potassium sulfate) added to the water joins with
suspended particles and microorganisms to form large aggregates called flocs, which
also settle to the bottom of the tank
Filtration: sand may be used to which microbes adhere and form biofilms that trap and
remove other microbes. There is also membrane filtration and activated charcoal
Disinfection: ozone, UV light or chlorination is used to kill most microorganisms prior to
release of the water

V.
Healthcare workers are required by law to report a list of communicable diseases to the State
health department and the CDC.
Preparation Objectives
1.

3.

Describe the role of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in disease prevention.
In charge of controlling disease outbreaks and ensuring proper vaccinations
Help people and communities protect their health, through prevention of disease,
injury and disability
Describe the MMWR and its role in public health.
In charge of scientific publication of diseases, drugs, disabilities, etc.
Keeping the public informed about new diseases

4.

5.

6.

Describe the role of The World Health Organization (WHO) in public health and describe how
it is funded.
Responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, and monitoring and
assessing health trends.
Funded through trust funds, government and non-government organizations
Describe the role of the EPA in keeping the water supply clean.
Monitors air, water, land and human health
In charge of setting norms and making sure people are not consuming or breathing
harmful bacteria
Describe the role of The Department of Agriculture & the FDA in ensuring food safety.
Monitor and test foods
Ensure food and drugs are safe by setting regulations

Class/SynthesisStudent learning Outcomes

1.

List the 10 most common disease outbreaks reported last year by your states public health
division in its annual CD Summary Index.

2.

List the 5 highest number of cases of Selected Notifiable Diseases listed in your states public
health divisions annual CD Summary Index.

3.

Be able to describe common pathogens in your state and identify the disease and/or
symptoms they cause. Explain why they are prevalent in your community and what could be
done to reduce the incidence of infection.