Transcript The Effectiveness of Condoms to Protect Against Bacterial Infections

The Effectiveness of Condoms to Protect Against Bacterial Infections
Erica Salzano
Department of Biology, York College
Introduction
• Providencia stuartii, a member of the
Enterobacteraceae family, is a common
cause of urinary tract infections, both
nosocomial and community-acquired
(Poirel 2008).
• Condoms provide a dual purpose to
prevent pregnancies and protect against
infection.
• The ability of condoms to protect against
P. stuartii induced UTI’s have not been
previously studied.
• Some condoms contain spermicide to help
reduce risk of unwanted pregnancies. The
detergent based lubricant that many
condoms contain to further enhance
pregnancy prevention also have antimicrobial effects (Zairi 2009).
• For individuals that have a latex allergy,
there are non-latex options like lambskin
condoms.
• There are no major studies on the
microbial carriage rate in the spermicide
or lubricant used for condoms.
Results
Colony Variation Growth on Agar Plates
Materials and Methods
• Methods Part I: Experimental Design
- All conditions were done in duplicate
Colony
Indentification
Morphological
Description
1
Round, tan, dull,
small colonies
Gram negative rods ~ 1 um
50 mL P. stuartii
culture (B)
2
Condom
suspended in
broth
Microscopic Image
3
100 mL Nutrient
broth (A)
4
Larger, irregular
shape,
filamentous
colonies
Small, round,
yellow, shiny
colonies
Small, bright
yellow, circular,
raised colonies
Gram negative rods ~ 2 um
Discussion
• Condoms are not one hundred percent
effective in preventing bacterial
infections due to tearing, extreme
stretching, or slippage (Warner et al.
2008).
• After twenty-four hours incubating at
body temperature, all of the sample
condoms were stretched to a much larger
size, which could have contributed to the
higher bacterial transmittance.
Gram negative rods ~ 1um
Conclusions
Gram negative rods ~ 0.5-1 um
• The non-lubricated condoms yeilded the
least amount of bacterial transmission
through the condom barrier.
• There was greater transmission through
the condom when the sample was
incubated at 35℃.
• There were additional bacteria detected
within the lubricant samples.
Table 1: Four different types of bacteria growth was seen. Bacteria
types were morphologically described, stained, and viewed under
the microscope. Type 1 is Providencia stuartii. Types 2,3, and 4 are
unknowns.
Incubate for 24 hours
at either room
temperature or 35℃
Colonies Per Condom at Room Temperature
Plate samples A and
B for standard plate
count
• Methods Part II
Condom Type
Non-Lubricant
Colony Identification
1
Lubricant
1
2
3
4
Spermicide
Data Analysis
Lambskin
Microbial Morphology
Colony Description
Gram Stains
(photograph)
Streak Plates
N/A
1
2
3
4
Average Cell/mL
9.4 × 101
6.6 × 103
2.9 × 102
8.7 × 102
2.3 × 102
N/A
2.3 × 103
5.1 × 102
1.3 × 103
5.5 × 102
Table 2: The average cell per mL was calculated for each individual
colony type found outside corresponding condom type. Spermicide
condom calculations are not available due to full lawn growth.
Future Studies
• Identify the other prominent bacteria that
appear to grow in lubricant.
• Further dilute the plated concentrations
for the body temperature portion of the
experiment, or less incubation time
Objectives
• Evaluate the efficacy of four types of
condoms as barriers of transmission
of Providencia stuartii.
1. Non-lubricated
2. Lubricated
3. Spermicidal
4. Lambskin
Literature Cited
Quantitative Analysis
•
Calculate cell concentration:
Colonies per mL
Cells/mL =
•
Dilution Factor
•
Calculate the percent P. stuartii that passed
through the condom:
Total cells outside of the condom
× 100
Total cells inside and outside of the condom
Figure 1: Providencia stuartti transmission through condoms after
incubating at room temperature. Based off a one-way ANOVA
statistical test, there is no significant difference between the
condom types [F(2,3)=2.386, P=0.2398]. Error bars indicate a
95% confidence interval. Samples at 35℃ are not shown due to
full transmittance through the condom.
Poirel, L., Bruderer, T., Frei, R., Bernabeu, S., Graber, P., and Nordmann, P. 2008.
Multidrug-resistant Providencia stuartii expressing extended-spectrum b-lactamase
PER-1, originating in Kosovo. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. 61: 13921393.
Zairi, A., Tangy, F., Bouassida, K., and Hani, K. 2008. Dermaseptins and magainins:
antimicrobial peptides from frogs’ skin- new sources for a promising spermicides
microbicides. Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology 2009:1-8.
Warner L. et al., 2008. Problems with condom use among patients attending
sexually transmitted disease clinics: prevalence, predictors, and relation to incident
gonorrhea and chlamydia. American Journal of Epidemiology 167:341-349.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Dr. Mathur and Dr. Hagerty for all of their assistance with
this research. Also thanks to Corinne Cusick and Rob Harvey for their
formatting advice, and to James Bergenti for his support and lab help.