Borrelia Burgdorferi Causes Lyme Disease

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Borrelia burgdorferi

Summary
B. burgdorferi belong to group of bacteria known as spirochetes. They are microaerophilic, and thus are difficult to culture in labs. Their growth is slow, and it can take days to even weeks to grow adequately enough to be isolated.
B. burgdorferi causes Lyme disease, a fairly recent discovery. Because it is so new the exact disease-causing mechanisms are not entirely clear.
Epidemiology
The bacteria are primarily found in mice. Ticks facilitate the spread from mice to deer and finally to humans through a complex, multi-year life cycle.
Manifestations
Initial symptoms include a small papule at the site of the tick bit that is surrounded by a red ring giving it a “bull’s eye” appearance. This can be accompanied …show more content…
perfringens are Gram-positive, spore-forming rods with squared ends. They are some of the larger bacteria and are non-motile. Cultures grow well on blood agar in anaerobic conditions and will produce a double zone of hemolysis. When spores form, they are heat resistant for long periods of time.
Different strains can produce a number of exotoxins, and as a result are categorized according to the significance to humans. Group A is the most significant to humans, and can be found in the colon as well as in soil samples. Group A produces α-toxin, θ-toxin, and enterotoxin; all are disruptive to cellular function in humans. Α-toxin disrupts cellular membranes. Θ-toxin alters capillary permeability and destroys heart muscle. Enterotoxin causes a loss of cellular fluid and intracellular components by altering membrane permeability and increasing intracellular calcium.
C. perfringens can lead to gas gangrene as well as food poisoning.
In gangrenous infections, the spores germinate and produce α-toxin. This process is believed to be the cause of tissue necrosis. Systemic shock results and is believed to be caused by increased vascular permeability and absorption of the …show more content…
Once spores germinated, they release enterotoxin into the upper GI tract, and cause intense fluid release, particularly in the ileum.
Epidemiology
Gas gangrene results from the introduction of contaminated foreign material into a wound of from a patient’s own intestinal flora. This occurs following internal trauma such as surgery, bullet wounds, and compound fractures.
Food poisoning can occur if adequate numbers of enterotoxin producing strains are consumed in contaminated food products. Such food products typically are meat dishes. C. perfringens is one of the most common causes of food poisoning in developed countries.
Manifestations
Symptoms of gas gangrene usually appear within 1- to 4- days, but can develop in as little as 10 hours. They include severe pain at the wound followed by a feeling of pressure. It progresses to produce swelling, tenderness, pallor, discoloration, and hemorrhagic bubble. Systemically, there is intravascular hemolysis, hypotension, and renal failure. This progresses until coma and death.
A less severe form occurs with anaerobic cellulitis, in which there is a subcutaneous infection with gas formation. It does not swell, cause pain, or toxicity like gas
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