Transcript Mycobacterium Tuberculosis

Mycobacterium
Tuberculosis
Amber Garza
Kaylee Stroud
Jennifer Sanchez
Patient
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Viper Jackson is an inmate in a New York
prison. He had complained of a dry,
persistent cough and saw the doctor
where a culture was taken. Later the lab
reported the presence of acid fast
bacteria. The culture was sent out and the
identification came back Mycobacterium
tuberculosis with resistance to rifampin
and INH
Specific Term
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M. Tuberculosis is
known as Multi Drug
Resistant Tb (MDRTb).
Characteristics
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Cell wall composed of mycolic acid, a waxy lipid
made of 60-90 carbon atoms
Capable of Intracellular growth
Are protected from lysis once they are
phagocytized
May remain dormant for decades inside
macrophages and in the centers of tubercles.
Acid-fast Gram Positive Bacilli
Has slow growth, divides in hours to days
Characteristics Continued
Hydrophobic
 Can live up to 8 months without a host
 Infects respiratory tract via inhalation of
respiratory droplets
 Droplets are about 5 um in diameter.
Minimum infectious dose is about 10 cells.
 Obligate aerobes
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Resistance
The resistance to Rifampin is a result of
chromosomal mutation that alters binding
site on enzyme (Bauman 305).
 INH (Isonicotinic acid hydrazide)
resistance is due to random mutations of
bacterial chromosomes that result in
reduced drug uptake or alteration of target
sites (Bauman 307).
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DNA Exchange
Image found
@www.genomenewsnetwork.org/articles/11_00/TB.
Courtesy The Rockefeller
University
M. tuberculosis in mouse macrophages.
Courtesy Center for Tuberculosis Research, Johns Hopkins University
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Courtesy The Rockefeller University
M. Tuberculosis exchanges DNA by forms of
Transformation. They replicate freely within
macrophages slowly killing them.
Treatment
Combination of antibiotic therapy
consisting of strepmycin, ethambutol,
and/or pyrazinamide.
 If successful, treatment may take as long
as two years.
 Dots (directly observe therapy)
 The New York outbreak of 1990 cost over
$1 billion to quell.
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Prognosis
80% mortality rate
 Most likely to die from Lung Disease
 If HIV positive patient will die sooner
 Will die from infection of all other organs
once M. Tuberculosis spreads
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Precautions
Use personal protective gear
 Quarantine
 Monitor treatment and visit doctor
frequently
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