Free Essay About Urinary Tract Infection And Serodiagnosis

What are the three ways in which urinary tract infections may be acquired?

Answer: The three ways in which urinary tract infections may be acquired are:
Sexual Contact: Sexual contact will not only lead to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), but may also lead to urinary tract infections. Cystitis, vaginitis, urethritis or acute urethral infection can be a common occurrence in the presence of bacterias like E.coli or Chlamydia trachomatis. symptoms will be burning, itching, increased frequency of micturition (Najar, Saldahna, Banday, 2009) . Having sexual contact with a person affected with Urinary tract infection of any kind, increases the risk of contacting the infection manifolds. The unaffected partner gets exposed to the microorganism and thus develops increased proneness to infection.
Decreased urinary flow: Inadequate intake of water, neurogenic bladder and obstruction in the outflow of the urine due to any cause like prostatitis, carcinoma, tumor like growth etc., may increase the susceptibility towards development of the urinary tract infection. The altered chemical balance will favor the growth of the microbes in the periurethral region thus leading to development of infection.
Catheterization: Insertion of catheters following urinary flow impedances or obstruction increases the risk of Urinary tract infection. The reasons are many, like insertion of a catheter is introduction of a foreign body into the urethra, thus evoking a response from the body. Another cause is insertion into the urethra drags the microbes up, back into the urethra instead of propelling them forward and helping in their expulsion (Aunet.org, 2015).

What are the primary and secondary antibody responses to an immunogenic response? Describe.

Answer: Primary antibody response is the response generated by the body on the first instance of exposure to a particular antigen. The body starts forming antibodies few days after the exposure. This time taken is known as the latent period. The patient thus has to face the initial sufferings post the first attack by the antigen.
Whereas the secondary antibody response is the response that develops at the second or subsequent exposure with a particular antigen. The body now becomes adjusted, it has stored antibodies that were formed during the first exposure. Those cells have the so-called :memory” which enables them to fight with the antigen on their further entry into the body(Primary and secondary antibody responses, 2014).

What is the importance of acute and convalescent serum specimens for the serologic diagnosis of infection? Explain.

Answer: Acute sera is the serum of the patient the is obtained from the patient during the course of his illness, the serum thus obtained is the one which is freshly obtained from and infected patient. Whereas, the convalescent serum is the serum that is taken out of the patient after he has recovered from a certain illness, it is usually the time period almost 4 weeks after the treatment of that particular disease that the serum is said to be convalescent (Answers.com, 2015). Both the types will demonstrate rich number of antigens present in them, thus helping in the diagnosis of the disease. The titres are indicative of the severity if the disease. Thus the levels are required to be known prior to the treatment of the diseases and hence the tests are essential for the diagnosis and prognosis of the case in question. A check on the titres will be indicative of the efficacy of the prescribed treatment thus making it easier to give the right diagnosis and prognosis of the concerned case.

REFERENCES

Answers.com,. (2015). What are acute and convalescent sera. Retrieved 7 February 2015, from http://www.answers.com/Q/What_are_acute_and_convalescent_sera
Auanet.org,. (2015). Adult UTI: American Urological Association. Retrieved 7 February 2015, from https://www.auanet.org/education/adult-uti.cfm
Najar, M., Saldanha, C., & Banday, K. (2009). Approach to urinary tract infections. Indian J Nephrol,19(4), 129. doi:10.4103/0971-4065.59333
Primary and Secondary Antibody Responses. (2014). Boundless. Retrieved from https://www.boundless.com/microbiology/textbooks/boundless-microbiology-textbook/immunology-11/antibodies-141/primary-and-secondary-antibody-responses-719-6154/