FREE BMS Bachelor of Mortuary Science Pathology and Microbiology Questions and Answers Flashcards

Which cellular adaptation occurs when cells shrink in size due to decreased workload or nutrient supply?

Answer: Atrophy

Atrophy is the decrease in cell size resulting from reduced functional demand, blood supply, or nutrition.

Prions, which are relevant to mortuary practice due to their resistance to standard disinfection, cause disease by affecting which molecule?

Answer: Protein

Prions are misfolded proteins that convert normal prion proteins into the pathogenic conformation without involving nucleic acids.

Which blood-borne pathogen poses the highest occupational risk to embalmers based on environmental persistence and infectivity?

Answer: Hepatitis B virus

Hepatitis B virus can survive on environmental surfaces for up to seven days and has a much higher transmission rate per needlestick than HIV.

What is the hallmark histological finding in acute inflammation?

Answer: Neutrophil infiltration

Neutrophils are the first immune cells recruited to sites of acute inflammation and are the defining cellular feature.

Which disinfectant mechanism is most effective against bacterial endospores encountered in mortuary settings?

Answer: Sporicidal chemical agents such as glutaraldehyde

Glutaraldehyde is a high-level disinfectant capable of destroying bacterial endospores through protein alkylation.

Which mode of disease transmission is most relevant when an embalmer inhales aerosolized body fluids during aspiration?

Answer: Airborne or droplet transmission

Aspiration procedures can generate aerosols containing pathogens, making airborne or droplet inhalation the primary transmission route.