T. pallidum is highly sensitive to oxygen and has a decreased ability to survive when not in human body temperature environments 1. The mode of transmission is through sexual contact or vertical transmission from the mother to the fetus. T. pallidum lacks the lipopolysaccharide which is the endotoxin normally present in gram negative bacteria1. The bacterium does produce many lipoproteins which are thought to prompt the inflammatory mediators through the recognition of toll-like receptors1. T. pallidum has a virulence factor of being highly motile due to its ability to propel itself forward by rotating on a longitudinal axis1. The spirochetes easily penetrate the skin or mucosal membranes and spread throughout the lymph nodes and then the blood circulation, affecting many parts in the body1.
Correspondingly, this sickness is spread and contracted by sexual, non-sexual, and perinatal contact. Through sexual contact, it goes to penis to vagina and or penis to rectum. Germs caused by NGU are reliable to be passed down during sex, vaginal or orally, which involves direct mucous membrane contact with an infected person. “T...
Imagine a rare, life-threating complication of a simple bacteria, causing many awful symptoms. One may have bleeding, bruising, diarrhea, and much more – all of which could resemble another aliment. However, with a simple culture that reveals one certain type of bacteria, one may be look at something much more serious. Toxic shock syndrome fittingly earns the name “syndrome” in its title as syndrome refers to “a disease that cause a variety of ailments” (1). As mentioned previously, toxic shock syndrome does just that. It may present itself with common symptoms, but a culture will reveal much more. Specifically, a culture will reveal the unnerving bacteria of none other than either Staphylococcus aureus or Streptococcus pyogens. Both of these bacterium cause what is known as toxic shock syndrome with the only difference in being their initial symptoms. Toxic shock syndrome has been documented to have been first recorded by the Greek physician Hippocrates who lived about 460-377 B.C. (1). However, toxic shock syndrome was questioned and remained a mystery for hundreds of years later. Toxic shock syndrome was thought to be “an obscure disease limited to a particular population of people in which the disease predictably appeared” (1). In the 1900s, toxic shock syndrome became a disease associated with trauma. This trauma may have been from car accidents, industrial mishaps, or even war injuries, but no one person could figure it out entirely. Annually, toxic shock syndrome affects _____.
Necrotizing fasciitis is a bacterial infection that is very serious and sometimes fatal. This disease spreads very quickly and destroys soft tissue in your body. This disease is caused by multiple bacteria: group A strep, E.coli, Klebsiella (causes pneumonia), Clostridium (causes diarrhea), Staphylococcus (causes staph infections), and Aeromonas hydrophila (causes diseases in almost all organisms, hard to resist). The bacteria group A strep is the leading cause for necrotizing fasciitis.
Tuberculosis is transmitted from person to person through airborne droplets, when a person that is infected with TB coughs, sneezes, talks, and/or sings letting tiny droplet to be released into the air(Bare, Smeltzer, Hinkle, and Cheever, 2008). TB cannot be spread through touching inanimate objects, food, or drinks (Bare et al. 2008). The person must be in the same area an affected individual is in and inspirate the droplets to be affected. Once the bacillus is inspired into the lungs, the bacilli start to multiply causing lung inflammation also known as nonspecific pneumontis (Huether et al. 2008). To cause an immune response the bacilli will travel through lymphatic system and become lodged in the lymph nodes (Huether et al. 2008). Lung inflammation causes the activation of the alveolar macrophages and neutrophils (Huether et al. 2008). Granulomas, new tissue masses of live and dead bacilli, are surrounded by macrophages, which form a protective wall. They then transform into a fibrous tissue mass, the central portion is called a ghon tubercle (Bare et al. 2008). The bacterial then necrotic, forming a cheesy mass, this mass may become calcified and form a collagenous scar (Bare et al. 2008). At this point, the bacteria becomes dormant and there is no further progression of the active disease. The disease can become active again by re-infection or activation of the dormant bacteria (Bare et al. 2008).
Slack, John M. and I. S. Snyder. Bacteria and Human Disease. Chicago: Year Book Medical Publishers, Inc., 1978.
Gastric ulcers occur on the inside of the stomach. These are often the result of bacterium Heliobacter pylori (H. pylori), which causes stomach infection, inflammation and cancer. Heliobacter pylori produce toxic molecules that weaken the stomach's protective mucus, therefore, making it more susceptible to the damaging effects of gastric acids, and thus producing more acid. According to MedlinePlus, researchers speculate it may be spread by unclean food and water, since it is found in about two-thirds of the world’s population.
Talaro , K., & Chess, B. (2012). Foundations in microbiology. (8th ed., pp. 563-564). New York, NY:
In addition to its traditional clinical manifestations, GAS can also cause serious invasive disease such as necrotizing fasciitis, colloquially known as the flesh-eating disease. First broadly reported during the Civil War, when it was known as gangrene, necrotizing fasciitis occurs when an individual’s subcutaneous fat and superficial fascia become rapidly necrotic. Though incidence data is limited, one study estimated that, worldwide, there are approximately 660,000 cases of invasive GAS disease per year, with 97% of those cases occurring in low-income populations (4). Many microorganisms other than GAS have been linked with necrotizing fasciitis, including Staphyloccocus aureus, Escherichica coli, and Klebsiella pneumoniae, and the disease is often caused by a polymicrobial infection. However, the most well known causative agent in necrotizing fasciitis cases is usually Group A streptococci (6). Although risk factors for necrotizing fasciitis include diabetes, old age, and immunosuppression, nearly half of all infections occur i...
Madigan, M., & Martinko, J. (2006). Brock biology of microorganisms. (11 ed.). New York, NY.
Microbes are everywhere in the biosphere, and their presence invariably affects the environment in which they grow. The effects
Bauman, R. W., & Masuoka, E. (2009). Microbiology: with diseases by body system (3rd ed.). San Francisco: Pearson Benjamin Cummings.
As an ICU nurse I constantly watch how patients develop pressure ulcers, a pressure ulcer is an area of skin that breaks down due to having constant friction and pressure, also from having limited movement and being in the same position over a prolonged period of time. Pressure Ulcers commonly occur in the buttocks, elbows, knees, back, shoulders, hips, heels, back of head, ankles and any other area with bony prominences. According to Cox, J. (2011) “Pressure ulcers are one of the most underrated conditions in critically ill patients. Despite the introduction of clinical practice guidelines and advances in medical technology, the prevalence of pressure ulcers in hospitalized patients continues to escalate” (p. 364). Patients with critical conditions have many factors that affect their mobility and therefore predispose them to developing pressure ulcers. This issue is significant to the nursing practice because nurses are the main care givers of these patients and are the ones responsible for the prevention of pressure ulcers in patients. Nurses should be aware of the tools and resources available and know the different techniques in providing care for the prevention of such. The purpose of this paper is to identify possible research questions that relate to the development of pressure ulcers in ICU patients and in the end generate a research question using the PICO model. “The PICO framework and its variations were developed to answer health related questions” (Davies, K., 2011).
Vorvick, Linda, Jatin Vyas and David Zieve. "Gangrene." 24 August 2011. MedLine Plus. 20 November 2013 .
Necrotizing Fasciitis (flesh eating bacteria ) from an essay by Katrina Tram Duong, edited by S.N. Carson M.D.