XY1030 Medical Microbiology Assignment Sample
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Executive Summary
Diseases have become the areas which require a huge attention before committing any significant treatment. Understanding its origin, characteristics, how it develops and the ways of treatments are the most important part which needs to be considered by any significant individual who is suffering. In this respect, the following study is based upon Staphylococcus aureus which is a bacterial infection and can even lead to death. Therefore, for providing a brief comprehension about these diseases, a brief introduction is being provided along with an in-depth evaluation. The study further proceeded in a detailed discussion of Staphylococcus aureus entry, virulence factors, symptoms and transmission. In order to gain more knowledge, epidemiology and historical aspects are being provided along with discussing the variable methods of its diagnosis and treatments. Furthermore, the study lastly concluded with disease progress and outcomes with potential drug treatments efficiently.
Introduction of Staphylococcus aureus
Staphylococcus is a Gram-positive microbes genus belonging to the Bacillales empire’s Staphylococcaceae family. Every individual has these bacteria inside their body, which sometimes creates the possibility to emerge as an infection. The patient who was studied by us showed certain symptoms on her skin which included red and swollen areas in the body and it was warm to touch. The infected area was surrounded with pus and the patient was experiencing pain and stinging sensation in the infected areas. These symptoms suggested that the studied patient might be suffering from staph infection as the above mentioned symptoms are common to staph infection.
Staphylococcus aureus in depth
Staphylococcus aureus is a common source of disease worldwide, and it can lead to a number of illnesses. Clinical symptoms, including such abscesses as well as cellulitis, are the most common bacterial infections caused by S. aureus. It could also potentially cause diseases including pulmonary asthma and bloodstream infections like bacteremia. Many S. aureus causes staph infections that will recover without medical assistance. However, certain staph infections involve surgical and evacuation of the diseased area and some may necessitate preventative therapy. In most cases, the surface and mucous membranes act as an efficient shield preventing infection. Nevertheless, if such boundaries are overcome, such as by trauma or virus, damage to a skin or mucous membranes might develop. S. aureus can invade underlying tissues or even the plasma by getting access to them. Infection is especially dangerous for people who really are weak or have invasive mobile implants (Chen et al., 2021).
Pathology of the disease
Entry
Staphylococcus aureus is a highly infectious bacterium, which can cause different kinds of infections in humans. This bacterium can enter the host’s body through different openings in order to establish successful infection (Heaton et al., 2020). It can enter through open cuts and wounds present in the body or it may enter the body through natural openings like the nose, mouth, ears or other such openings. It can also enter the body through ingestion of infected food.
Adhesion
Staphylococcus aureus utilises different methods to adhere to the host cell in order to infect the host. This Gram positive bacterium uses a number of proteinaceous and non-proteinaceous adhesive factors to adhere to the host cell. These adhesins utilised by the bacteria include intracellular matrix and extracellular proteins of the human host cell. In addition to that, proteins present in the plasma membrane of the host cell also act as adhesins and help in biofilm accumulation (Taylor & Unakal, 2021).
Virulence factors
Virulence factors can be described as the different molecules that help the bacteria to cause infection in the host cells. Staphylococcus aureus produces a variety of virulence factors that increases the pathogenic activity of the bacteria. These virulence factors produced by the bacteria include hemolysins, leukocidins, immune-modulatory factors, different proteases, a number of enterotoxins and other such substances. Apart from these, many exfoliative toxins produced by the bacteria can also act as a virulence factor.
Symptoms
Staphylococcus aureus can show certain characteristic symptoms in the patients. These symptoms include redness in the skin, swelling of the infected area and other such conditions. Pain at the site of infection is also a primary symptom of the infection caused by Staphylococcus aureus. Skin around the infected area usually appears as a pocket of pus. Cellulitis is also a symptom of the infection caused by the bacteria.
Transmission
The Gram positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus is highly infectious and it can transmit very fast among humans. The bacteria can transmit through direct skin contact with the infected person and by using a contaminated object used by a patient like comb, cap, towels or other such objects. The bacteria can also transmit through inhalation of the infected droplets dispersed in the environment by sneezing, coughing or screaming.
Epidemiology and aetiology of the disease
The primary factor of pus was identified by Alexander Ogston. Micrococci, according to Ogston, are the cause of severe abscesses. He proved that additional abscesses developed after infusing pus from acute abscesses onto guineapigs as well as rodents, accompanied by indications of septicemia. He discovered micrococci in the bloodstream of the infected animals. Ogston also created a way for cultivating micrococci by injecting pus into chickens’ eggs and incubating those (Nagoba & Pichare, 2020). The infected eggs’ contents have been shown to have pyogenic areas directly to the initial pus. The grouped micrococci were given the term “staphylococci” by Ogston in 1882, derived from the Greek term, which means grape cluster. Additionally, A German surgeon, Anton J. Rosenbach, identified two varieties of staphylococci, which he termed Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus albus, respectively, for the variegated look of their colony.
According to some reports Staphylococcus aureus infection is a major concern globally as it can spread easily and the bacteria is highly infectious. In the United States, the incidence of Staphylococcus aureus is being reported approximately 38.2% to 45.7% per 100,000 persons every year (Parthasarathy et al., 2021). The infection is epidemic all across the globe and present in almost every part of the world. The numbers of cases are higher in countries where the population is high, for example India, South Africa, Pakistan and other such highly populated countries.
Available methods of clinical and laboratory diagnosis
There are certain clinical and laboratory methods available for the diagnosis of Staph infection caused by Staphylococcus aureus, which are briefly discussed here.
Diagnosis of S. aureus can be done with the help of identifying clinical symptoms like redness of skin, visible pus around the infected area, and cellulitis by the doctors. Apart from these clinical methods, there are many laboratory methods present for the diagnosis of the infection caused by the Gram positive bacteria. Few of them are diagnosis of clump factor like coagulase test, hemolysin test, thermostable deoxyribonuclease test and other similar tests. In addition to that, latex agglutination tests can also be helpful for the diagnosis of the disease (Ricciardi et al., 2020). These tests are highly effective for the diagnosis of the infection caused by Staphylococcus aureus, and easy to perform.
Diseases progress and outcomes
Staphylococcus is a bacterial genus. There are over 30 varieties. Most infections are caused by a bacterium called Staphylococcus aureus. This can result in sepsis, a life-threatening immunological reaction to disease. Toxic shock syndrome (TSS) is a potentially fatal illness caused by toxins produced by some microbes. Interaction with pus from such an open sore, tissue contact including an infected person, and interaction with goods by an infected individual including such as clothes, common locker room, and even athletic equipment can all transmit S. aureus diseases (Parlet, Brown & Horswill, 2019). These bacteria can be transmitted through contact with an infected person or through absorbing infected aerosols distributed by coughing or sneezing. Diseases of the skin are frequent, but germs can enter the bloodstream to invade other tissues. A significant case fatality trend is consistent with Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection, particularly in individuals with severe sepsis, as well as those with a respiratory or unclear infectious disease. This emphasises the significance of ongoing surveillance and attempts to improve the prognosis of this life-threatening condition (Bachert et al. 2020). Therefore, the final outcome could be determined where S. aureus can lead to infections if something gets into the bloodstream.
Drug treatment of the infection
There are many drugs available for the treatment of Staphylococcus aureus, which are easily accessible. Different antibiotics used in the treatment of the diseases are Cephalexin, Dicloxacillin, which are used for the treatment of methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) type of infection (Acay et al., 2021). Clindamycin, trimethoprim and linezoids are helpful in the treatment of methicillin-resistant S. aureus type of infection. Apart from these, Nafcillin and vancomycin are also being used in the treatment.
Drug resistance in the bacteria
According to some studies, Staphylococcus aureus is resistant to almost all the drugs that have been used in the treatment for staph infection but methicillin and Vancomycin are the two important drugs that have shown effective resistance in the bacteria. The bacteria can become drug resistant with the help of certain genetic mutations and by reducing membrane proteins specific to the antibiotic (Guo et al., 2020).
Vaccines
Currently there is no effective vaccine available for Staphylococcus aureus infection. Intensive studies have been conducted for the preparation of the S. aureus vaccine but none of the attempts have succeeded completely (Ansari et al., 2019).
Summary
Overall this study includes the causes and symptoms of the infection like redness of the skin and cellulitis caused by the Gram positive bacteria S. aureus along with the epidemiology and aetiology of the disease. In addition to that, the study shows that the mode of entry of bacteria is cuts, open wounds, and ingestion of contaminated food. Transmission method of the bacteria and the virulence factors produced by bacteria, which includes enterotoxins, plasma protein and others are also enlightened in this case. This study also provides the detail about the diagnosis methods of the infection as well as drugs used for the treatment, which are vancomycin, linezoids and other antibiotics. The bacterium is multi drug resistant and no vaccine has yet been developed for this type of infection.
References
Acay, B., Inc, M., Khan, A., & Yusuf, A. (2021). Fractional methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection model under Caputo operator. Journal of Applied Mathematics and Computing, 67(1), 755-783. Retrieved on 26 February from: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12190-021-01502-3
Adame-Gómez, R., Castro-Alarcón, N., Vences-Velázquez, A., Toribio-Jiménez, J., Pérez-Valdespino, A., Leyva-Vázquez, M. A., & Ramírez-Peralta, A. (2020). Genetic diversity and virulence factors of S. aureus isolated from food, humans, and animals. International journal of microbiology, 2020. Retrieved on 26 February from: https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijmicro/2020/1048097/
Ansari, S., Jha, R. K., Mishra, S. K., Tiwari, B. R., & Asaad, A. M. (2019). Recent advances in Staphylococcus aureus infection: focus on vaccine development. Infection and drug resistance, 12, 1243. Retrieved on 26 February from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6526327/
Bachert, C., Humbert, M., Hanania, N. A., Zhang, N., Holgate, S., Buhl, R., & Bröker, B. M. (2020). Staphylococcus aureus and its IgE-inducing enterotoxins in asthma: current knowledge. European Respiratory Journal, 55(4). Retrieved on 25 February from: https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/55/4/1901592.short
Chen, J., Zhou, H., Huang, J., Zhang, R., & Rao, X. (2021). Virulence alterations in staphylococcus aureus upon treatment with the sub-inhibitory concentrations of antibiotics. Journal of Advanced Research, 31, 165-175. Retrieved on 25 February from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2090123221000151
Guo, Y., Song, G., Sun, M., Wang, J., & Wang, Y. (2020). Prevalence and therapies of antibiotic-resistance in Staphylococcus aureus. Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology, 10, 107. Retrieved on 26 February from: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2020.00107/full
Heaton, C. J., Gerbig, G. R., Sensius, L. D., Patel, V., & Smith, T. C. (2020). Staphylococcus aureus epidemiology in wildlife: A systematic review. Antibiotics, 9(2), 89. Retrieved on 26 February from: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/9/2/89/pdf
Nagoba, B. S., & Pichare, A. (2020). Medical Microbiology and Parasitology PMFU 4th Edition-E-book. Elsevier Health Sciences. Retrieved on 25 February from: https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=uPbvDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT53&dq=Nagoba,+B.+S.,+%26+Pichare,+A.+(2020).+Medical+Microbiology+and+Parasitology+PMFU+4th+Edition-E-book.+Elsevier+Health+Sciences.&ots=EV_HRL-z_a&sig=zUGD6oLqyapXV3AKHbgu-G3RpyE
Parlet, C. P., Brown, M. M., & Horswill, A. R. (2019). Commensal staphylococci influence Staphylococcus aureus skin colonization and disease. Trends in microbiology, 27(6), 497-507. Retrieved on 25 February from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966842X19300216
Parthasarathy, S., Shah, S., Sager, A. R., Rangan, A., & Durugu, S. (2020). Staphylococcus lugdunensis: review of epidemiology, complications, and treatment. Cureus, 12(6). Retrieved on 26 February from: https://www.cureus.com/articles/34966-staphylococcus-lugdunensis-review-of-epidemiology-complications-and-treatment
Ricciardi, B. F., Muthukrishnan, G., Masters, E. A., Kaplan, N., Daiss, J. L., & Schwarz, E. M. (2020). New developments and future challenges in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of prosthetic joint infection. Journal of Orthopaedic Research®, 38(7), 1423-1435. Retrieved on 26 February from: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?output=instlink&q=info:nu-mNGxzDPsJ:scholar.google.com/&hl=en&as_sdt=0,5&as_ylo=2019&as_yhi=2022&scillfp=4297681768795812437&oi=lle
Taylor, T. A., & Unakal, C. G. (2021). Staphylococcus aureus. StatPearls. Retrieved on 26 February from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK441868/
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, (2020). Staphylococcal Infections. [Online] Retrieved on 25 February from: https://medlineplus.gov/staphylococcalinfections.html
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