Summary:
Leptospirosis is a major tropical disease which can be seen endemic in most of the tropical and subtropical countries affecting human populations. Leptospira is a genus of spirochetes and is known to cause leptospirosis. This genus family includes organisms and its variants with a lifestyle falling in the range of invasive pathogens to aquatic saprophytes. These Leptospira species has got adapted to various climatic conditions and environmental factors, thereby, acquiring a large genome and a very complex outer membrane. The outer membrane has got several proteins and features that are unique among these bacteria. These organisms can be able to shed through urinal excretions of the host and they can even survive in water, soil and human body! They invade human body through cut wounds, broken and/or the exposed skin, mucosal layers and so on. The mode and mechanism of infection of these organisms remained a mystery so far. However, more recently in human host, the host adaptability and immune responsiveness of a variant of leptospira sp., “L. interrogans” to host innate immunity was elucidated in infection or animal models although not very clear. A better and deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms of these species in response to host’s natural or the innate immunity is obligatory to learn the nature of early leptospirosis.
Introduction:
“Leptospirosis” is one of the zoonotic diseases which is caused by pathogenic Leptospira species. These are transmitted from reservoir hosts (especially rodents) to humans via water contaminated by infected animals. This disease can be seen mostly in tropical and subtropical countries and has a momentous impact on public health throughout the developing world. This genus family ...
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...-membrane outer membrane proteins have lagged behind the studies of lipoproteins due to their aberrant behavior by Triton X-114 detergent fractionation. Due to this reason, trans-membrane outer membrane proteins can be best characterized by assessing membrane integration as well as surface exposure. Not surprisingly, some of the outer membrane proteins that are involved in mediating host–pathogen interactions are strongly regulated by the conditions that are found in mammalian host tissues. For instance, the leptospiral immunoglobulin-like repeat proteins are dramatically induced by the osmolarity and they would mediate the interactions with host extracellular matrix proteins. Development of latest molecular tools in genetics is making it possible to understand the roles of these and several other outer membrane proteins in the mechanism of leptospiral pathogenesis.
Treponema pallidum is a Gram-negative bacterium that has a spiral shape (1). They are about 6 to 20um in length and 18-20um in diameter (1). Treponema pallidum can only survive within a host which makes them obligate internal parasites, meaning that outside a host this organism will die due to the absence of nutrients, exposure to oxygen and heat. Also since this organism can’t be grown on a culture medium, animal models are used to study T. pallidum (1). Treponema pallidum bacteria consist of an inner and outer membrane with a thin peptidoglycan cell wall lacking liposaccharides (1). They have a distinctive corkscrew motility with the aid of 6 endoflagellas (2). The specific classifications of Treponema pallidum are the following: Scientific name- Treponema pallidum, Common name- Syphilis. Treponema causes syphilis, yaws, and spinta. Borrelia causes Lyme disease and relapsing fever and Leptospira causing leptospirosis (5). What makes this microorganism special to the human population is that it causes infection to its host by entering the body through microscopic skin or mucous abrasions via direct personal contact with the lesions (sexual or kissing), blood transfusions, accidental bacterial inoculation, and transplacental passage (2). According to the CDC website there are 55,400 people diagnosed with Syphilis every year and 322 reported cases of congenital Syphilis in 2012 (6).
Salmonella is one of the most common food-borne diseases that attack an enormous amount of people in poor countries every year. It is shown that “Today, it still attacks some 17 million people in poor countries each year, and kills about 600,000 of them. Back before antibiotics such as chloramphenicol, typhoid was very much feared” (Trek 1). Despite the advance in technology and medicine, Salmonella is
Disease and parasitism play a pervasive role in all life. Many of these diseases start with microparasites, which are characterized by their ability to reproduce directly within an individual host. They are also characterized by their small size, short duration of infection, and the production of an immune response in infected and recovered individuals. Microparasites which damage hosts in the course of their association are recognized as pathogens. The level of the interaction and the extent of the resultant damage depends on both the virulence of the pathogen, as well as the host defenses. If the pathogen can overcome the host defenses, the host will be damaged and may not survive. If on the other hand the host defenses overcome the pathogen, the microparasite may fail to establish itself within the host and die.
Tuberculosis or TB is an airborn infection caused by inhaled droplets that contain mycobacterium tuberculosis. When infected, the body will initiate a cell-mediated hypersensitivity response which leads to formation of lesion or cavity and positive reaction to tuberculin skin test (Kaufman, 2011). People who have been infected with mycobacteria will have a positive skin test, but only ones who have active TB will show signs and symtoms. Basic signs and symptoms include low grade fever, cough with hemoptysis, and tachypnea. They may also show pleuristic chest pain, dyspnea, progressive weight loss, fatigue and malaise (Porth, 2011).
Being a gram-negative bacterium, L. pneumophila has lipopolysaccharides (LPS) that act as endotoxin within a human host. The presence of a flagella is thought to mediate adherence to human lung cells, thereby causing infection, since flagella-less strains do not cause disease. Once attached to human cells, the organism is engulfed by a macrophage where is utilizes the internal environment to multiply.
“But you don't look sick.”. “If you just exercised more you would feel better.” , “It's all in your head.” , “You are just being lazy.”. These phrases are just a hand full of unkind things that people have said to me, simply because they do not understand my disease. Who could blame them? Doctors do not understand it. Researchers do not understand it. My parents do not understand it. My boyfriend does not understand it. Even I cannot understand it. I have Lupus. It is an unresolved disease that millions of people suffer with. Though there are numerous people diagnosed with lupus, there are very few people who know what it is, and how it impacts us from the time we wake up, to when we finally escape our pain with sleep. In this essay, I will explain what we know about lupus, what the symptoms are, and what kind of treatments are accessible for lupus.
My hypothesis on Tuberculosis is that it is a very deadly disease that causes a persons lungs to fill with blood. This can harm the body by making the body suffocate itself when the lungs fill with blood.
"Bloodborne Pathogens : MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia." U.S National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2014.
What started as a problem with a horrific disease, lead to isolation of leprosy patients. It was hard for these patients to settle and make homes; communities feared the spreading of illness. The government took an old plantation to create a hospital for the leprosy patients. The old plantation was called hospital #66 or better known as Carville. “Over a long time period, the disease can be disfiguring, and societies have stigmatized victims of the disease. This attribute is deeply discrediting since the stigmatized individual is disqualified from full social acceptance. Leprosy was thus dreaded, not because it killed, but because it left one alive with no hope”. (P1. And 2, Sato, H., & Frantz, J. (2005). Termination of the leprosy isolation policy in the US and japan: Science, policy changes, and the garbage can model.) People deemed with this Disease were brought to Carville mandatory to be quarantined; some patients were brought in shackles against there will. Patients were forced to leave everything they knew and loved behind, including friends, family and children.
Exotic animals carry diseases and infections that can be potentially harmful or fatal to humans, jeopardizing the safety of the community. These diseases range in severity from common ringworm infections from African pygmy hedgehogs to lyssaviruses in p...
Pneumonia is a lung infection caused by bacteria, viruses, or fungi that inflame the air sacs in the lungs and can causes them to fill with fluid or pus. This can cause coughing, a build up of phlegm, difficulty breathing, fever, and chills. It is most serious if infants and young children, people over the age of 65, and those with a low immune system contract it. (Mayo Clinic Staff; Pneumonia definition)
Tuberculosis is an infection caused by Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, an acid-fast Gram-positive bacillus, and “is characterized by progressive necrosis of the lung tissue” (Tamaro & Lewis, 2005). Tuberculosis is caused by many debilitating conditions like immunosuppression and chronic lung disease, among others. Nevertheless, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), remains the leading cause of tuberculosis worldwide. Tuberculosis can present in one of two types: active tuberculosis and latent tuberculosis. Prompt treatment prevents latent tuberculosis from evolving into active tuberculosis. (“Basic TB Facts,” 2012).
Acute epiglottis is an infectious disease of the epiglottis and supraglottic structures that can cause sudden fatal airway obstruction. Airway management can be unpredictably difficult and challenging particularly in the event of the unexpected difficult airway. In rare cases, it is impossible either to intubate the trachea or to ventilate the lungs via mask. By anticipating these challenges and choosing the correct rescue strategy in managing the high-risk airway can increase the likelihood of a successful outcome. We report a case of a 41-year-old man presented with severe upper airway obstruction following acute epiglottis that urgently needed artificial airways. The complexities and the challenges encountered in managing the patient’s airway are discussed.
Leprosy is an infectious disease that has been around for hundreds of years. In those times people feared leprosy and thought it incurable. They would shun the infected, and make them wear bells on their necks so people could hear when they were coming down the street. “Leprosy is caused by a slow-growing type of bacteria called mycobacterium leprae" (Leprosy Overview, 2013). It can take up to 3-5 years for symptoms to start showing after coming in contact with the bacteria. The way to catch leprosy is to come into contact with an untreated person’s nose and mouth droplets. Symptoms of leprosy are “disfiguring skin sores, lumps or bumps that do not go away” (Leprosy Overview, 2013). In contrast to the old belief that leprosy is incurable, it can actually be taken care of with six months to a year of antibiotic treatments. Leprosy is still around today as about 200 people in the U.S. are infected every year. With treatment though, in the past 20 years more than 14 million people have been cured. The World Health Organization provides free treatment to all those infected.
Typhoid fever is an acute contagious disease which is caused by Salmonella typhi bacteria. It can be transmitted through contaminated food, water, or by a human carrier. Typhoid fever is mostly spread in undeveloped, and polluted countries. Moreover, about 2.5 million people are diagnosed with typhoid fever each year. Without health and medical care, typhoid fever can be life threating disease. Furthermore, typhoid fever can be prevented by taking certain measures such as hygiene, vaccines, and antibiotics.