Contraction and Spread of Streptococcus pyogenes
Abstract:
Streptococcus pyogenes is a very common bacteria found in humans. It is very transmissible and can be caught through the air via coughing or sneezing. This form of Strep. illness is referred to as Streptococcal pharyngitis, also known as Strep. throat, which can complicate into Scarlet Fever. It is also possible to be infected through abrasions of the skin, which can result in cellulitis, impetigo, or even necrotizing fasciitis. Aside from human to human contact, these bacteria can also be found in unpasteurized milk. There is no vaccine for Streptococcal infections, though antibiotics such as penicillin still work very well against them.
Introduction:
S. pyogenes is a bacterium that permeates our society. Today it is commonly known as the cause of “Strep. throat,” or Streptococcal pharyngitis. Modern medicine has caused the eradication of most of its advanced infections, while this most common form of infection still thrives. It is very contagious, and pyogenes travels quickly through places where bacteria flourish, such as schools and health institutions. The body cannot fight this bacterium very well without help, and S. pyogenes was a common cause of death until the introduction of antibiotics in the twentieth century. It has a number of ways to subdue the immune system, but it is almost completely vulnerable to penicillin, even after decades of exposure. While generally no more than a nuisance, this bacterium continues to be an interesting topic of discussion. (6,3,2)
General Contraction:
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
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(4)Maynor, Michael. "Necrotizing Fasciitis." Necrotizing Fasciitis. 11 Dec. 2006. .
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(7)Triesenberg, Steven. "What is NF?" What is Necrotizing Fasciitis? 13 Aug. 2003. .
"Streptococcal pharyngitis," more commonly known as strep throat, usually appears suddenly with severe sore throat pain and is highly contagious. Immediate treatment is required and will cost $111 at an urgent care clinic and $531 at an ER.
It is not unusual for some healthy women to harbor Group B streptococcus bacteria in their rectum and vagina. These microorganisms do not usually cause disease when few in number, but when they grow in number and colonize these areas, bacterial infection can become severe.
Streptococcus pyogenes, also known as Group A streptococcus (GAS), is a β-hemolytic, Gram-positive bacterium that most commonly causes respiratory disease, including pharyngitis or tonsillitis, as well as skin infections such as impetigo and cellulitis. The organism is transmitted via respiratory droplets or by contact with fomites, and commonly infects young children. In addition to the common clinical presentations associated with S. pyogenes, some individuals develop the postinfectious sequelae of rheumatic fever and glomerulonephritis. Due to the severity of these medical consequences, prophylactic antibiotic use is often recommended for any patients with otherwise mild S. pyogenes infections (21).
My disease is Streptococcal pneumonia or pneumonia is caused by the pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae. Streptococcus pneumoniae is present in human’s normal flora, which normally doesn’t cause any problems or diseases. Sometimes though when the numbers get too low it can cause diseases or upper respiratory tract problems or infections (Todar, 2008-2012). Pneumonia caused by this pathogen has four stages. The first one is where the lungs fill with fluid. The second stage causes neutrophils and red blood cells to come to the area which are attracted by the pathogen. The third stage has the neutrophils stuffed into the alveoli in the lungs causing little bacteria to be left over. The fourth stage of this disease the remaining residue in the lungs are take out by the macrophages. Aside from these steps pneumonia follows, if the disease should persist further, it can get into the blood causing a systemic reaction resulting in the whole body being affected (Ballough). Some signs and symptoms of this disease are, “fever, malaise, cough, pleuritic chest pain, purulent or blood-tinged sputum” (Henry, 2013). Streptococcal pneumonia is spread through person-to-person contact through aerosol droplets affecting the respiratory tract causing it to get into the human body (Henry, 2013).
"Streptococcal Infections (invasive Group A Strep, GAS)." Streptococcal Infections (invasive Group A Strep, GAS). N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2014.
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.
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.
Life History and Characteristics: Staphylococcus aureus is a gram positive bacterium that is usually found in the nasal passages and on the skin of 15 to 40% of healthy humans, but can also survive in a wide variety of locations in the body. This bacterium is spread from person to person or to fomite by direct contact. Colonies of S. aureus appear in pairs, chains, or clusters. S. aureus is not an organism that is contained to one region of the world and is a universal health concern, specifically in the food handling industries.
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).
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.
Since antibiotics, such as penicillin, became widely available in the 1940s, they have been called miracle drugs. They have been able to eliminate bacteria without significantly harming the other cells of the host. Now with each passing year, bacteria that are immune to antibiotics have become more and more common. This turn of events presents us with an alarming problem. Strains of bacteria that are resistant to all prescribed antibiotics are beginning to appear. As a result, diseases such as tuberculosis and penicillin-resistant gonorrhea are reemerging on a worldwide scale (1).
The emergence of Penicillin marked the dawn of the antibiotic era and allowed for diseases which normally ended in death or dysfunction to be eliminated and for people to carry on living healthy lives. It is estimated that 90% of children who had meningitis of the bacterial kind in the pre-antibiotic era would either die or survive the illness with a physical impairment. Strep throat, whooping cough, tuberculosis and pneumonia are among some of the other fatal bacterial diseases which would usually result in a fatality. Antibiotics decreased the mortality rates, and so new antibiotics were formed.
Bacterial cells, like plant cells, are surrounded by a cell wall. However, bacterial cell walls are made up of polysaccharide chains linked to amino acids, while plant cell walls are made up of cellulose, which contains no amino acids. Many bacteria secrete a slimy capsule around the outside of the cell wall. The capsule provides additional protection for the cell. Many of the bacteria that cause diseases in animals are surrounded by a capsule. The capsule prevents the white blood cells and antibodies from destroying the invading bacterium. Inside the capsule and the cell wall is the cell membrane. In aerobic bacteria, the reactions of cellular respiration take place on fingerlike infoldings of the cell membrane. Ribosomes are scattered throughout the cytoplasm, and the DNA is generally found in the center of the cell. Many bacilli and spirilla have flagella, which are used for locomotion in water. A few types of bacteria that lack flagella move by gliding on a surface. However, the mechanism of this gliding motion is unknown. Most bacteria are aerobic, they require free oxygen to carry on cellular respiration. Some bacteria, called facultatibe anaerobes can live in either the presence or absence of free oxygen. They obtain energy either by aerobic respiration when oxygen is present or by fermentation when oxygen is absent. Still other bacteria cannot live in the presence of oxygen. These are called obligate anaerobes. Such bacteria obtain energy only fermentation. Through fermentation, different groups of bacteria produce a wide variety of organic compounds. Besides ethyl alcohol and lactic acid, bacterial fermentation can produce acetic acid, acetone, butyl alcohol, glycol, butyric acid, propionic acid, and methane, the main component of natural gas. Most bacteria are heterotrophic bacteria are either saprophytes or parasites. Saprophytes feed on the remains of dead plants and animals, and ordinarily do not cause disease. They release digestive enzymes onto the organic matter. The enzymes breakdown the large food molecules into smaller molecules, which are absorbed by the bacterial cells. Parasites live on or in living organisms, and may cause disease. A few types of bacteria are Autotrophic, they can synthesize the organic nutrients they require from inorganic substances. Autotrophic bacteria are either photosynthetic or Chemosynthetic. The photosynthetic bacteria contain chlorophyll that are different from the plant chlorophyll. In bacterial photosynthesis, hydrogen is obtained by the splitting of compounds other than water.
Engelkirk & Burton (1979) state that bacteria can reproduce asexually by simple division of cells and some bacteria reproduce sexually by conjunction. A bacterium is a waste producer of products and secretions. This allows pathogens to invade their hosts to cause disease some of these harmful diseases are Scarlet fever, an acute illness, characterized by a reddish skin rash, which is caused by systematic infection with the bacterium streptococcus. St. Anthony’s Fire is another bacterial disease. “St. Anthony’s Fire which is an acute superficial form of celluitus involving the dermal lymphatic, usually caused by infection with streptococci and chiefly characterized by a peripherally spreading hot, bright red, oedematous.