History of Streptococcus Pyogenes
Abstract:
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.
Although he lived four centuries before the birth of Christ, a man named Hippocrates recorded the symptoms of diseases we still see to this day. Known as the “Father of Medicine” (Hippocrates), Hippocrates was an ancient physician who studied and recorded his observances of the body’s infections and physiology. He set forth the foundation for future physicians, and in doing so, is accredited for our knowledge of infectious diseases in earlier centuries. During this time however, many believed the earth and its inhabitants were composed of four general elements: air, water, fire, and dirt. They also believed that any one person who fell ill was being punished by the gods. As a foresighted thinker though, Hippocrates encouraged the idea that humans became ill due to natural causes. In that wisdom, he recorded all his observances of his patients and their illnesses, taking careful note of the bodily symptoms and their progression.
Described in his works, Hippocrates mentioned scarlet fever-like symptoms,
2
those that correlate to the flesh-eating bacteria now known as streptococcus pyogenes. Due to Hippocrates’ acts as a pioneer in the medical field, these chronicles are the first recordings we have of the existence of the bacteria.
Centuries later, another man began to outline more thoroughly the features and symptoms of several afflictions. Theodor Billroth, a Viennese surgeon described streptococci, staphylococci, diplococci, and even rods found in pus as intervals regarded in a distinct species: Coccobacteria septica (Breed). He investigated the roles of the bacteria and entwined their origin. Billroth noticed specific bacteria in those with erysipelas; he named the bacteria streptococcus from the two Greek words strepto meaning a chain formed of links, and coccus meaning berry.
Another aspect of the story is associated with Major Nancy Jaax. She is a member of USAMRIID or United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. USAMRIID does research on different w...
Twenty four centuries ago, Hippocrates created the profession of medicine, for the first time in human history separating and refining the art of healing from primitive superstitions and religious rituals. His famous Oath forged medicine into what the Greeks called a technik, a craft requiring the entire person of the craftsman, an art that, according to Socrates in his dialogue Gorgias, involved virtue in the soul and spirit as well as the hands and brain. Yet Hippocrates made medicine more than a craft; he infused it with an intrinsic moral quality, creating a “union of medical skill and the integrity of the person [physician]” (Cameron, 2001).
Linton, Alan. 1982. Microbes, Man and Animals: The Natural History of Microbial Interactions. John Wiley & Sons. 342pp
Hippocrates believed that macrocosms, often designated the universe and environment, could influence and effect microcosms, like that of the human body. The Hippocratics reasoned this was because all things in the macrocosms and microcosms derived from the same materials. Empedocles, a Greek philosopher, communicated the first four-element theory of matter which delineated the four essential building block to be air, water, fire, earth. All of these elements corresponded with the four humors that, in conjunction with the theories of the contraries (hot, cold, wet, dry), formed Hippocrates’s practice and concept of humoralism (Lecture 3, [FIND DATE]). Hippocrates asserted that each human being contained unique combinations of the four distinctive humors, being yellow bile, black bile, phlegm, and blood, which shaped individuals’ temperaments. Patients fell ill when the balance between these humors was compelled to shift out of equilibrium. Thus, Hippocrates, and his students like Galen, understood that physicians had to have a full understanding of the patient and must subsequently tailor their treatments to achieve the highest form of care (Airs, Waters, Places, 90-91). Consequently, physicians practiced healing with a counterbalance therapy which returned the individual
In term of classification, Vampirococcus phylogenetic has not yet been discovered. This bacterium has no effect on human, other than the role in explaining how the first organelles appeared in eukaryotes. However, the interesting aspect of
There weren’t many trained doctors in Europe in the Middle Ages . In Paris in 1274 there were only 8 doctors and about 40 people practising medicine without any official training and they didn’t really understand how the body worked and why people got sick. When making a diagnosis doctors might consult medical books, astrological charts and urine samples. Some doctors believed disease was caused by bad smells or small worms, or the position of the planets or stars. They also charged very high fees, so only the rich could afford them.
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).
Schopick, Julia. Hippocrates was right: Treat people, not their disease. 26 June 2000. http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2000/06/26/hlca0626.htm 23 Nov. 2004
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”.
In modern medicine when an ailment arises it can be quickly diagnosed, attributed to a precise bacteria, virus, or body system, and treated with medication, surgery or therapy. During the time before rational medical thought, this streamlined system of treatment was unheard of, and all complaints were attributed to the will of the multitude of commonly worshiped Greek gods (Greek Medicine 1). It was during the period of Greek rationalism that a perceptible change in thought was manifested in the attitudes towards treating disease. Ancient Greece is often associated with its many brilliant philosophers, and these great thinkers were some of the first innovators to make major developments in astrology, physics, math and even medicine. Among these academics was Hippocrates, one of the first e...
A remarkable breakthrough in medicine occurred in the late 1800s through the work of Louis Pasteur. Pasteur's experiments showed that bacteria reproduce like other living things and travel from place to place. Using the results of his findings, he developed pasteurization, which is the process of heating liquids to kill bacteria and prevent fermentation. He also produced an anthrax vaccine as well as a way to weaken the rabies virus. After studying Pasteur's work, Joseph Lister developed antisepsis, which is the process of killing disease-causing germs. In 1865 before an operation, he cleansed a leg wound first with carbolic acid, and performed the surgery with sterilized (by heat) instruments. The wound healed, and the patient survived. Prior to surgery, the patient would've needed an amputation. However, by incorporating these antiseptic procedures in all of his surgeries, he decreased postoperative deaths. The use of antiseptics eventually helped reduce bacterial infection not only in surgery but also in childbirth and in the treatment of battle wounds. Another man that made discoveries that reinforced those of Pasteur's was Robert Koch. Robert Koch isolated the germ that causes tuberculosis, identified the germ responsible for Asiatic cholera, and developed sanitary measures to prevent disease. (1)
In early times, like today, people tried to find ways to explain things that they did not understand. There was a time when mice and rats were thought to have grown from cheese left in the corner, frogs were believed to grow from pond scum, and maggots were thought to come from rotting meat.
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was a scientist and was best known for his contributions to microbiology; he received the title of "the Father of Microbiology” and dedicated many years of his life to improve the microscope in order to attain incredible heights of precision of the microscopic lenses. He produced magnifications from up to 275X, with a resolving power of up to 1.4 µm. Moreover, he presented his findings from the material of animals and vegetables in extraordinary detail as well as being the first to observe a glimpse of bacteria that he found in water; the first illustration of the bacteria is demonstrated in a representation by Leeuwenhoek in the 1683 “Philosophical Transactions” publication. In this publication, Leeuwenhoek wrote to the Royal Society about his observations of the inside of an old man’s mouth. He found "an unbelievably great company of living animalcules [Latin for ‘little animals’], a-swimming more nimbly than any I had ever seen up to this time. The biggest sort... bent their body into curves in going forwards. . . Moreover, the other animalcules were in such enormous numbers, that all the water... seemed to be alive." These were among the first observations on living bacteria ever recorded.
German microbiologist and physician Dr. Robert Koch (1843-1910) successfully isolated Bacillus anthracis in 1875 by growing the organism in a pure culture and identifying the bacteria’s ability to form endospores, a resistant type of spore that develops in some bacteria cells. Furthermore, Koch produced experimental anthrax by injecting the disease into animals. From his research and experimentation, Koch was able to discern the life cycle of anthrax and develop the Koch postulates, which identified the causative relationship between microorganisms and diseases. The proof outlined in his discoveries in the late 1800s allowed for later scientists to develop a comprehensive Germ Theory, a notion which states that certain microorganisms present in the body can in fact cause diseases. Long before the formal discovery of the disease, anthrax had originated in 1250 BC, where it is thought to have developed in Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt, Rome, and Greece. As the disease was in all likelihood much more dangerous in olden times due to the lack of an ability to control the spread of the bacteria, some theories suggest that anthrax contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire. It was only in the 1752 and 1769 that the first clinical observations of cutaneous...
Hippocrates was a Greek physician that left a legacy that existed during his lifetime in Classical Greece and continues today. His moral and ethical standards were the foundation of his teachings, along with his meticulous writings concerning the study of the human body. He firmly believed that poor health and disease were the result of a natural process that could be discovered and cured through careful clinical reasoning and observations. Hippocrates travelled throughout Greece teaching and describing disease symptoms, and taught doctors how to analyze and treat specific illnesses or diseases. Hippocrates’s accomplishments give him the respect from doctors and medical professionals around the world that continues even today.