Pathophysiology Biologic Basis for Disease in Adults & Children

Pathophysiology Biologic Basis for Disease in Adults & Children

Pathophysiology Biologic Basis for Disease in Adults & Children

Questions:

Background: An otherwise healthy 46-year-old man was found to have severe Clostridium difficile (C.diff) infection, typically seen in individuals who are older and sicker.  Due to the increasing incidence of cases such as this, some providers are becoming alarmed that the organism spread rapidly and cause severe illness and even death.  Scientists in the lab suspect that the case is a mutated form of an organism that has resistance to some of the most common treatments (Vancomycin resistance and Metronidazole resistance).  Since it is difficult to treat, let alone cure an infection caused by the organism, some consider it may be easier to prevent the infection by using a vaccine.  You have been asked to weigh in and help identify a potential vaccine:

1. Identify the specific material the potential vaccine would have to contain to prevent future infections.
2. Explain how this vaccine would prevent future infections.
3. The mutated form of this type of organism could result from a change in a molecule within one member of the original population. What is the molecule?

Background: Until the middle of the 20th century, transplanting complex organs, such as kidneys, was not truly successful.  The first transplant recipients did not survive.  It was not until 1954 that the first successful kidney transplant was performed.  Successive transplants increased his research scientist about techniques such as tissue typing and the use of immunosuppressive drugs.  There are drugs that are suppressed immune system to prevent the rejection of the transplanted organ. Nearly 15,000 kidney transplant performed in the United States with greater than 95 percent success rate.

4. Described relationship of the immune system to organ transplants and the use of immunosuppressive drugs to prevent the rejection of the transplanted organ. In your answer be sure to:

• state at least one (1) way the immune system is involved in the rejection of transplanted organs.
• explain why the best source of a donated kidney would be the identical twin of the recipient.
• explain why immunosuppressant drugs are needed to prevent retraction of the kidney received from a donor other than an identical twin.
• state at least one (1) reason a person might get sick more easily when taking an immunosuppressant drug.

5. Discuss the immune response to the chickenpox virus (varicella–zoster virus [VZV]). In your answer, be sure to include:

• the role of antigens in the immune response.
• the role of white blood cells in the body’s response to the virus.
• explanation of why recovery from infection with the chickenpox virus will not protect a person from getting a different disease, such as the measles.
• explanation of why chickenpox (Varicella-Zoster) vaccination usually does not cause a person to become ill with chickenpox.