Streptococcus pneumoniae is a Gram-positive and fast-growing bacteria which inhabit upper respiratory tract in humans. Moreover, it is an aerotolerant anaerobe and usually causes respiratory diseases including pneumonia, otitis media, meningitis, peritonitis, paranasal sinusitis, septic arthritis, and osteomyelitis (Todar, 2003). According to Tettelin et al., more than 3 million of children die from meningitis or pneumonia worldwide (2001). S.pneumoniae has an enzyme known as autolysin that is responsible for disintegration and disruption of epithelial cells. Furthermore, S.pneumoniae has many essential virulence factors like capsule which is made up of polysaccharides that avoids complement C3b opsonization of cells by phagocytes. Many vaccines contain different capsular antigens which were isolated from various strains (Todar, 2003). There are plenty of S.pneumoniae strains that developed resistance to most popular antibiotics like macrolides, fluoroquinolones, and penicillin since 1990 (Tettelin et al., 2001). Antibiotic resistance was developed by the gene mutation and selection processes that, as a consequence, lead to the formation of penicillin-binding proteins, etc. (Todar, 2003). People infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) have a sequential destruction of CD4 T cells which always lead to a weakening of the immune system. Despite the reduction of CD4 T cells, the macrophages and dendritic cells are also affected by HIV. Moreover, HIV causes a dysfunctionality in B cells, CD8 T cells, and innate immune system cells (Shipley, 2013). For instance, the reduction of perforin production and IFN-γ secretion in CD8 T cells cannot help effector T cells to destruct virus-infected cells (Kuerten et al., 2008). The reduc... ... middle of paper ... ...PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://moodle.nu.edu.kz/course/view.php?id=2650 (Accessed December 11, 2013). Swiatlo, E., & Ware, D. (2003). Novel vaccine strategies with protein antigens of Streptococcus pneumoniae. FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology, 38(1), 1-7. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0928824403001469 (Accessed December 11, 2013). Tettelin, H., Nelson, K. E., Paulsen, I. T., Eisen, J. A., Read, T. D., Peterson, S., et al. (2001). Complete genome sequence of a virulent isolate of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Science. Retrieved from http://www.sciencemag.org/content/293/5529/498.short (Accessed December 12, 2013). Todar, K. (2003). Streptococcus pneumoniae and Pneumococcal pneumonia. Todar's Online Textbook of Bacteriology. Retrieved from http://textbookofbacteriology.net/S.pneumoniae.html (Accessed December 12, 2013).
Streptococcus pyogenes is thought to live benignly within one in five people, and is thusly one of the most common pathogens among humans. Due to its common
Mielcarek N, Debrie AS, Raze D et al (2006) Attenuated Bordetella pertussis: new live vaccines for intranasal immunisation. Vac- cine 24 (Suppl 2):54–55
Todar, K. (2002). Streptococcus pyogenes (Vol. 1). Madison: University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Bact. Retrieved July 30, 2008, from http://www.textbookofbacteriology.net/streptococcus.html
our everyday lives bacteria is constantly surrounding us, some of the bacterium that we encounter are beneficial to us but then there are the ones that are severely detrimental to our health. The way that they effect a persons body can differ from person to person. Many of the “microscopic foes” are very resilient and have a very fast reproduction rate. Not only do they reproduce quickly they sometimes seem to outsmart our immune system and not allow our bodies to fight the infection making it almost impossible to stop them. One thing that a lot if people rely on is the assistance of prescription drugs to get them better but even the drugs are not being effective and we can’t stop the pathogens from invading our personal places such as work, home, school, or anywhere. Even though modern medicine is advancing the pathogens could still get the get the best of us. The scary thing is we never know when the next pandemic or epidemic is going to arise. All it needs is some ordinary microbe to swap genes with a deadly germ to produce a “super pathogen” and it could happen to anyone, anywhere, as it did to Jeannie Brown who is from “our neck of the woods”.
Bacterial resistance to antibiotics has presented many problems in our society, including an increased chance of fatality due to infections that could have otherwise been treated with success. Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections, but overexposure to these drugs give the bacteria more opportunities to mutate, forming resistant strains. Through natural selection, those few mutated bacteria are able to survive treatments of antibiotics and then pass on their genes to other bacterial cells through lateral gene transfer (Zhaxybayeva, 2011). Once resistance builds in one patient, it is possible for the strain to be transmitted to others through improper hygiene and failure to isolate patients in hospitals.
This pathogen, Streptococcus pneumoniae, is a gram-positive coccus that is long shaped and usually seen in groups of pairs (Todar, 2008-2012). This pathogen ranges from o.5-1.25 micrometers, which is pretty small in size (Todar, 2008-2012). It “lacks catalase and ferments glucose into lactic acid” (Todar, 2008-2012). To grow this bacterium in the lab the best way to do it would be to grow it on a blood agar at 37 degrees Celsius and produces a green zone arou...
With the earliest recordings coming from the Fifth Century B.C., streptococcus pyogenes, and more frequently, its symptoms have been prevalent among doctors and historians for hundreds of years. The first mentioning of streptococcus pyogenes is to be credited to Hippocrates, in which he describes the relative symptoms of the flesh-eating bacteria in its early stages. Then depicted by Billroth in 1874, patients carrying erysipelas were determined to have this certain bacterial infection. In 1883, the chain-forming bacteria were isolated by Fehleisen; and in the following year, Rosenbach applied the S. pyogenes name. Further advances in hemolytic and non-hemolytic studies were made by Lancefield in the 1930’s, in which the alpha, beta, and gamma subgroups of the hemolytic structures – detailed and defined by Schottmueller and Brown - were divided into serotypes.
Group A streptococcus bacteria can be treated with common, inexpensive antibiotics. Penicillin is the drug of choice for both mild and severe disease. In addition to antibiotics, supportive care in an intensive care unit and sometimes surgery are necessary with these diseases. Early treatment may reduce the risk of death although, unfortunately, even appropriate therapy does not prevent death in every case. The spread of all types of group A streptococcal infections may be reduced by good hand washing, especially after coughing and sneezing, before and after preparing foods and before eating.
What is Strep Throat you ask? Strep throat is a sore throat with fever caused by streptococcal infection. Sore throats are most commonly caused by viral infections or other irritants such as smoke, allergies, dry air, or a throat injury, and not by a strep infection. A strep infection causes the throat (pharynx) and the tonsils or adenoids to become irritated, inflamed, and painful. Strep throat is caused by streptococcal (strep) bacteria, most often by group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus (GABS). Other types of strep that can sometimes infect the throat are groups C and G strep bacteria. How the strep infection is spread? Strep throat can be passed from person to person. When a person infected with strep throat breathes, coughs, or sneezes, tiny droplets containing the strep bacteria are released into the air and are breathed in by other people.
Pneumonia is usually caused by infectious agents such as viruses, bacteria, and fungi. These can all be prevented by different immunizations.
Hospital-acquired infections (HAI) are preventable and pose a threat to hospitals and patients; increasing the cost, nominally and physically, for both. Pneumonia makes up approximately 15% of all HAI and is the leading cause of nosocomial deaths. Pneumonia is most frequently caused by bacterial microorganisms reaching the lungs by way of aspiration, inhalation or the hematogenous spread of a primary infection. There are two categories of Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia (HAP); Health-Care Associated Pneumonia (HCAP) and Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP).
Streptococcus pneumoniae is a gram-positive coccus. Usually they are found in pairs of cocci, or diplococci, but they may also occur in short chains or singly. When cultured on blood agar they demonstrate alpha hemolysis. They are non motile organisms.
Streptococcus pneumoniae ( responsible for causing strep throat and other throat infections ) are spreading throughout communities at an alarming rate, and antibiotics used to treat Streptococcus pneumoniae are becoming increasingly ineffective as a result of the antibiotic being prescribed to so many people so ofte...
What if there were no treatment for strep throat? Or pneumonia? Or sinus infections? It is hard to imagine life without medicine for these illnesses. But what if the antibiotics used to treat bacterial infections such as strep throat and pneumonia stopped working? What if the bacteria were stronger than the antibiotics? The threat of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections is an increasing concern for healthcare providers, and it is important to reduce the misuse and overuse of antibiotics to maintain control of bacterial diseases.
“Viral Pneumonia: Medline Plus.” Nih.gov. 26 February 2014. National Institutes of Health. 23 March 2014 .