CIC exam Questions and Answers (Latest
Study Guide) Verified Success
Chain of Infection - Correct Answer ✅1)Infectious agent=
organism with ability to cause disease; greater virulence,
invasiveness, and pathogenicity => increased odds of
infection
2) Reservoir: place where microbes can persist and reproduce
3) Portal of Exit: way for microbe to leave the reservoir
4) Mode of transmission: method of microbe transfer from
one place to another
5) Portal of entry: opening that allows microbe to enter host
6) Susceptible host: Lacks immunity or physical resistance to
prevent invasion by microbe
Is a circle; each link must be present in sequential order for
infection to occur
Virulence - Correct Answer ✅Measure of microbe's ability
to invade and create disease
Depends on ability to:
Survive in environment between hosts
Transmit between hosts (moving; adherence)
Proliferate
,CIC exam Questions and Answers (Latest
Study Guide) Verified Success
IgM - Correct Answer ✅Pentamer; primary response, short-
lived (<6 months); best at fixing complement
IgG - Correct Answer ✅Monomer; main blood antibody,
secondary response; longer lived. opsonization and toxin
neutralization. 4 subclasses
Physical barriers - Correct Answer ✅Skin; fever; secreted
antimicrobials; innate immunity
Complement system - Correct Answer ✅11=protein
cascade; classically activate by ab:ag complexes; alternate
by pathogen surfaces
Skin defects; examples and associated pathogens - Correct
Answer ✅Wounds, burns, trauma, serious derm problems,
indwelling devices, injections. Skin flora- S. aureus, CNS,
strep pyo, corynebacteria, malassezia furfur
,CIC exam Questions and Answers (Latest
Study Guide) Verified Success
Mucous membrane barrier defects; examples and associated
pathogens - Correct Answer ✅chemo-induced mucositosis,
head/neck trauma, smoking, inhalational injury,
antacids/PPIs. Resident flora- anaerobes, aerobic GNR,
candida, enteroccus, bovis
Body passage obstruction; examples and associated
pathogens - Correct Answer ✅Tumors, foreign bodies,
stones, cystic fibrosis. Resident flora overgrow or invade; site-
specific.
Abnormal number or function of granulocytes - Correct
Answer ✅Leukemia, chemo, congenital disorders, diabetes.
If short term (< 2 wks) then aerobic GNR, Sa, CoNS. IF long
term, add fungi (candida, t. glabrata, aspergillus)
Abnormalities of cell-mediated immunity - Correct Answer
✅BMT, HIV, steroids, malnutrition, 3rd tri pregnancy.
Bacteria: Intracellular pathogens (listeria, salmonella,
mycobacteria, nocardia, legionella).
Fungi: candida, Cryptococcus, coccidioides, histoplasma.
Virus: Herpes group
, CIC exam Questions and Answers (Latest
Study Guide) Verified Success
Also toxoplasma and strongyloides.
abnormalities of humoral immunity - Correct Answer
✅BMT, HIV, some cancers, aging. Strep pneumo,
encapsulated H. flu, Neisseria meningitidis
Preventing infection for immunocompromised patients -
Correct Answer ✅Take thorough patient history. Prepare
before starting with all vaccines, procedures, line placement,
screening. Support gastric acidity. Prevent exposures with
awesome hygiene, approp food and water precautions, visitor
education, no flowers or plants, and possible abx prophy (for
infections that might reactivate or high-risk for pneumocystis)
Mycoplasma spp. - Correct Answer ✅No cell wall -->
limited abx choices. Cause atypical pneumonia. Usually
diagnosed by serology
Chlamydiae - Correct Answer ✅obligate intracellular
parasites. Elementary body=infectious, reticulated=
intracellular. DFA or ELISA for detection of antigen is most
common. Can also detect antibodies.