TRENDY BUGS
Trendy bugs and diseases reported in the medical news in recent past are mad cow disease, anthax, SARS, and spreading at the moment ... Bird Flu. It's a challenge to the medical community on how to fight these infectious diseases. Do you remember Toxic Shock Syndrome? Well, to refresh our memory, here's a review and parade of some old trends in superbugs and the diseases they cause:
- Polio - Poliomyelitis is an acute infectious disease caused by an enterovirus characterized by fever, motor paralysis, skeletal muscle dystrophy and permanent disability. It was widespread until the development of vaccine by Jonas Salk in 1952.
- Kaposi's Sarcoma (KS) - In 1981, CDC reported Pneumocystis carinii as causative agent. It's an opportunistic infection in young adult homosexual males.
- Pertussis - Also known as whooping cough caused by Bordetella pertussis with main symptom of convulsive spasmodic cough. Epidemics occur in 3 to 5 cycles.
- Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) - Caused by hantavirus carried primarily by deer mice. The unusual respiratory illness was first recognized in mid-1983 in the Four Corners region, the area in which New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona share borders. The virus kill about 55 % of those infected.
- Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) - Directly connected to ectopic pregnancy. Chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis are some of the diseases.
- Actinomycotic Pelvic Inflammatory Disease - First reported in the mid-1970s caused by Actinomyces, an anaerobic type of bacilli. It's a primary upper genital infection in women wearing intrauterine devices (IUDs) due to colonization. Symptoms include vaginal discharge, pelvic pain, fever, or an adnexal mass.
- Lyme Disease - First diagnosed in the summer of 1975 as a mystery illness that created an arthritic epidemic among families in Lyme, Connecticut. William Burgdorfer, MD, isolated and identified the bacterium Borelia burgdorferi, the tick-borne spirochete in 1982, seven years later.
- Tuberculosis (TB) - A highly communicable disease caused by tubercle bacilli (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) and rarely by related mycobacteria. TB is marked by toxic and allergic symptoms, usually in the lungs.
- Legionnaire's Disease - In July 1976, American Legion members developed pneumonia-like illness while attending a convention in Philadelphia. About 200 became ill and 34 died. The CDC confirmed the source of the acute pneumonia as Legionella pneumophila, a bacterium of unique and genetic rarity it was classified by CDC in a new family (Legionellaceae). Other strains of Legionella subsequently have been recognized.
- Pseudomembraneous Colitis - It occurs as a rare complication of antibiotic treatment or chronic debilitating illness. It was first recognized in the 1960's and the frequency in the 1970's.
- HIV/AIDS - The Human Immunodeficiency Viruses (HIV) are any group of retroviruses. Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is the result of trauma from compromised immune system and is characterized by vulnerability to life threatening infections.
- Chlamydia pneumonia - Obligate intracellular bacteria reponsible for upper and lower respiratory tract infection including pneumonia, bronchitis, pharyngitis, sinusitis and asthma. It's passed from human to human via respiratory droplets.
- Cyclospora cayetanensis - Enteric protozoan (subclass Coccidia) that causes an acute watery diarrhea in both immunocompetent and immunosuppressed hosts. In 1996 and 1997, thousand cycloporiasis reported in the US related to raspberries and lettuce imported from Guatemala.
- Helicobacter pylori - Associated with the pathogenesis of gastric and deudenal ulcers, gastritis, gastric cancer and heart disease. Overlooked for nearly a century, two Australian researchers (they received the Nobel Prize) showed their significance in the early 1980s. Hematoxylin & Eosin stain of stomach biopsy specimens showed helical shaped gram negative bacilli. The human stomach is the only known reservoir. Transmission is by person to person, fecal-oral, and oral-oral route.
- Pneumocystis carinii - Opportunistic infection in patients with AIDS. It's through inhalation of intracystic body or the small trophic form. It was first classified as a protozoan but recent molecular data suggest that it is pathogenically more closely related to the ascomycetous fungi. Specimens of choice include induced sputum, bronchoalveolar lavage and open-lung biopsy.
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CULTURE CLUB NEWS
The Campylobacter bacteria is the most common cause of gastroenteritis and 124 people die each year according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It can also cause severe bloody diarrhea, cramping, and fever lasting for days. The bacteria live in the guts of chicken and 30 to 100 percent of chickens bought in grocery stores have it. People become ill because chickens have an average body temperature of 107 degrees way much higher than humans. It's not as popular as its cousin Salmonella - a specie was named by microbiologists from Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago after the world famous basketball champion Michael Jordan.
Lab techs check for Campylobacter subspecie jejuni by culturing fecal specimen in Campylobacter Blood Agar. It is incubated in 42C degrees incubator for 24-48 hours. Suspected colonies are smeared in a slide and Gram stained. Under the microscope, they appear pink, comma or s-like. Biochemical (Urea) and antibiotics are used for confirmation tests.
A Georgia microbiologist was given a grant of $1.7 million to develp a vaccine to get rid of the bug that drives people to the toilet a year.
Original Publication ALT MSN Groups 2006
Web Page: Culture Club News
Link 11/14/09 ALT Group Multiply
Kissing a pig is dangerous - as the animal might catch the H1NI virus.
Caution: Kids are dangerous and contagious!!
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