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Batterjee Medical College
Batterjee Medical College
Spirochetes
Dr. Manal El Said
Head of Medical Microbiology Department
Batterjee Medical College
Treponema pallidum
Diseases
Syphilis
Characteristics
• Spirochetes.
• Not seen on Gram-stained
organism is too thin.
• Not cultured in vitro.
smear
Habitat and Transmission
• Habitat is the human genital tract.
• Transmission is by sexual contact
• from mother to fetus across the placenta.
because
Batterjee Medical College
Treponema pallidum
Pathogenesis
• Organism multiplies at site of inoculation and then
spreads widely via the bloodstream.
• Many features of syphilis are attributed to blood
vessel involvement causing vasculitis.
• Primary (chancre) and secondary lesions heal
spontaneously.
• Tertiary lesions consist of gummas (granulomas)
in bone, muscle, and skin, aortitis, or central
nervous system inflammation.
Batterjee Medical College
Treponema pallidum
• In primary syphilis, the Spirochetes multiply at the site of inoculation and a
local, nontender ulcer (chancre) usually forms in 2 to 10 weeks. The ulcer heals
spontaneously, but Spirochetes spread widely via the bloodstream (bacteremia)
to many organs.
• One to three months later, the lesions of secondary syphilis occur & appear as a
maculopapular rash, on the palms and soles, or as moist papules on skin and
mucous membranes . Moist lesions on the genitals are called condylomata lata.
These lesions are rich in Spirochetes and are highly infectious, but they also
heal spontaneously. Constitutional symptoms of secondary syphilis include lowgrade fever, malaise, anorexia, weight loss, headache, myalgias, and generalized
lymphadenopathy. There may be internal organ involvement (meningitis,
nephritis, hepatitis, etc).
• Tertiary syphilis may show granulomas (gummas), especially of skin and bones.
central nervous system involvement or cardiovascular lesions In tertiary lesions,
treponemes are rarely seen.
• T. pallidum also causes congenital syphilis. The organism is transmitted across
the placenta, after the third month of pregnancy, and fetal infection can occur.
Skin and bone lesions are common, as is hepatosplenomegaly. Unless the
disease is treated promptly, stillbirth or multiple fetal abnormalities occur.
Batterjee Medical College
Treponema pallidum
Laboratory Diagnosis
• Seen
by
darkfield
microscopy
or
immunofluorescence.
• Serologic tests important: VDRL (or RPR) is
nontreponemal (nonspecific) test used for
screening; FTA-ABS is the most widely used
specific test for Treponema pallidum.
• Antigen in VDRL is beef heart cardiolipin; antigen
in FTA-ABS is killed T. pallidum.
• VDRL declines with treatment, whereas FTA-ABS
remains positive for life.
Batterjee Medical College
Treponema pallidum
Treatment
• Penicillin is effective in the treatment of all stages
of syphilis.
• In primary & secondary syphilis, use benzathine
penicillin G because T. pallidum grows slowly, so
drug must be present for a long time.
• There is no resistance.
Prevention
• Benzathine penicillin given to contacts.
• No vaccine is available.
Batterjee Medical College
Borrelia burgdorferi
Diseases
Lyme disease
Characteristics
•Spirochetes.
•Gram stain not useful.
•Can be cultured in vitro, but not usually done.
Batterjee Medical College
Borrelia burgdorferi
Habitat and Transmission
• The main reservoir is the white-footed mouse.
• Transmitted by the bite of ixodid ticks
• Very small nymph stage of ixodid tick (deer tick) is
most common vector.
• Tick must feed for at least 24 hours to deliver an
infectious dose of B. burgdorferi.
ixodes tick
Batterjee Medical College
Borrelia burgdorferi
Pathogenesis
• Organism
invades
skin,
causing a rash called erythema
migrans.
• It
then
spreads
bloodstream
via
to
the
involve
primarily the heart, joints, and
central nervous system.
characteristic red, ring
shaped skin lesion with
central clearing that first
appears at site of tick bite
Batterjee Medical College
Borrelia burgdorferi
Laboratory Diagnosis
• Diagnosis made serologically, i.e., by detecting IgM
antibody.
• Confirm positive test with Western blot assay.
Batterjee Medical College
Borrelia burgdorferi
Treatment
Doxycycline for early stages; penicillin G for late
stages.
Prevention
• Avoid tick bite.
• Can give doxycycline or amoxicillin to people who
are bitten by a tick in endemic areas.
Batterjee Medical College
Borrelia recurrentis
• Causes relapsing fever.
• Transmitted by human body louse.
• It has rapid antigenic changes, which account for
the relapsing nature of disease.
• It is due to programmed rearrangements of
bacterial DNA encoding surface proteins.
Batterjee Medical College
Leptospira interrogans
Diseases
Leptospirosis
Characteristics
• Spirochetes that can be seen on
microscopy but not light microscopy.
• Can be cultured in vitro.
darkfield
Habitat and Transmission
• Habitat is wild and domestic animals.
• Transmission is via animal urine.
• In the United States, transmission is via dog,
livestock and rat urine.
Batterjee Medical College
Leptospira interrogans
Pathogenesis
• Two phases:
- initial bacteremic phase
-subsequent immunopathologic
meningitis.
phase
with
Batterjee Medical College
Leptospira interrogans
Laboratory Diagnosis
• Darkfield microscopy and culture in vitro are
available but not usually done.
• Diagnosis usually made by serologic testing for
antibodies in patient's serum.
Batterjee Medical College
Leptospira interrogans
Treatment
•Penicillin G.
•There is no significant antibiotic resistance.
Prevention
• Doxycycline effective for short-term exposure.
• Vaccination of domestic livestock and pets.
• Rat control.
Batterjee Medical College
Rickettsiae
Dr. Manal El Said
Head of Medical Microbiology Department
Batterjee Medical College
Rickettsia rickettsii
Diseases
Rocky Mountain spotted fever
• Fever, severe headache, myalgias, & prostration.
• Typical rash, which appears 2 to 6 days later, begins with
macules that progress to petechiae.
• Rash appears first on hands & feet & then moves inward to
trunk.
• In addition to headache, other profound central nervous
system changes such as delirium & coma can occur.
• Disseminated
intravascular
coagulation,
edema
&
circulatory collapse may ensue in severe cases.
Batterjee Medical College
Rickettsia rickettsii
Characteristics
• Obligate intracellular parasites.
• Not seen well on Gram-stained smear.
• Antigens cross-react with OX strains of Proteus vulgaris
(Weil-Felix reaction).
Batterjee Medical College
Rickettsia rickettsii
Habitat and Transmission
• Dermacentor (dog) ticks are both vector &
main reservoir.
• Transmission is via tick bite.
• Dogs & rodents can be reservoirs.
ixodes tick
Pathogenesis
• Organism invades endothelial lining of capillaries, causing
vasculitis.
• No toxins or virulence factors identified.
Batterjee Medical College
Rickettsia rickettsii
Laboratory Diagnosis
• Detecting antibody in serologic tests such as the ELISA
test.
• Weil-Felix test is no longer used.
• Stain and culture rarely done.
Treatment
Tetracycline.
Prevention
• Protective clothing & prompt removal of ticks.
• Tetracycline effective in exposed persons.
• No vaccine is available
Batterjee Medical College
Rickettsia prowazekii
Diseases
Louse-borne epidemic typhus
• Typhus begins with sudden onset of chills, fever, headache,
and other influenzalike symptoms
• Maculopapular rash begins on trunk & spreads peripherally.
• Rash becomes petechial & spreads over entire body but
spares face, palms, & soles.
• Signs of severe meningoencephalitis, including delirium &
coma
• In untreated cases, death occurs from peripheral vascular
collapse or from bacterial pneumonia.
Batterjee Medical College
Rickettsia prowazekii
Characteristics
Same as R. rickettsii.
Habitat and Transmission
• Humans are the reservoir, and transmission is via
the bite of the human body louse.
Batterjee Medical College
Rickettsia prowazekii
Pathogenesis
No toxins or virulence factors known.
Laboratory Diagnosis
Serologic tests for antibody in patient's serum.
Treatment
A tetracycline, such as doxycycline.
Prevention
• A killed vaccine is used in the military but is not
available for civilian use.
Batterjee Medical College
Coxiella burnetii
Dr. Manal El Said
Head of Medical Microbiology Department
Batterjee Medical College
Coxiella burnetii
Diseases
Q fever.
• Main organ involved in Q fever is lungs.
• It begins suddenly with fever, severe headache, cough, and
other influenzalike symptoms.
• Hepatitis is frequent enough that combination of pneumonia
& hepatitis should suggest Q fever.
• Rash is rare
• Q fever is acute disease &recovery is expected even in
absence of antibiotic therapy.
• Chronic Q fever characterized by life-threatening
endocarditis occurs.
Batterjee Medical College
Coxiella burnetii
Characteristics
• Obligate intracellular parasites.
• Not seen well on Gram-stained smear.
Habitat and Transmission
• Habitat is domestic livestock.
• Transmission is by inhalation of aerosols of urine,
feces, amniotic fluid, or placental tissue.
• The only rickettsia not transmitted to humans by
an arthropod.
Batterjee Medical College
Coxiella burnetii
Pathogenesis
No toxins or virulence factors known.
Laboratory Diagnosis
• Diagnosis usually made by serologic tests.
• Weil-Felix test is negative.
• Stain and culture rarely done.
Treatment
Tetracycline.
Prevention
• Killed vaccine for persons in high-risk occupations
Batterjee Medical College
Mycoplasmas
Dr. Manal El Said
Head of Medical Microbiology Department
Batterjee Medical College
Mycoplasma pneumoniae
Diseases
"Atypical" pneumonia.
Characteristics
• Smallest free-living organisms.
• Not seen on Gram-stained smear because they
have no cell wall, so dyes are not retained.
• The only bacteria with cholesterol in cell
membrane.
• Can be cultured in vitro.
Batterjee Medical College
Mycoplasma pneumoniae
Habitat and Transmission
• Habitat is the human respiratory tract.
•Transmission is via respiratory droplets.
Pathogenesis
• No endotoxin because there is no cell wall.
• Produces hydrogen peroxide, which may damage
the respiratory tract.
Batterjee Medical College
Mycoplasma pneumoniae
Laboratory Diagnosis
• Gram stain not useful.
• Can be cultured on special bacteriologic media but
takes at least 10 days to grow, which is too long to
be clinically useful.
• Positive cold-agglutinin test is presumptive
evidence.
• Complement fixation test for antibodies to
Mycoplasma pneumoniae is more specific.
Batterjee Medical College
Mycoplasma pneumoniae
Treatment
Erythromycin or tetracycline.
Prevention
No vaccine or drug is available