An anonymous male patient was admitted to a hospital in Andhra Pradesh India with a bite wound from Show more An anonymous male patient was admitted to a hospital in Andhra Pradesh India with a bite wound from an Indian Cobra (Naja naja). The patient is given antivenom upon admission to the hospital (bites from Naja naja are quite common in this area and the hospital is well-prepared for these cases). The wound is inflamed and over the course of the next few days necrosis sets in and the patient presents with a pyogenic bacterial infection. The patient is started on IV antibiotics and within a week he has returned to health although swelling at the wound site persists for several weeks. 1. Define pyogenic 2. What molecule in cobra venom causes the type of immune suppression that might lead to a pyogenic bacterial infection? 3. What is the effect this molecule has on the innate immune system? 4. Would cobra bite victims be more susceptible to infection with viruses and intracellular bacteria? Why or Why not? 5. How is this molecule used in the laboratory to study a component of the innate immune system? Show less
