Exam 2 Gram Positive Cocci Flashcards
Split over 10/9 and 10/12
Infectivity
ability to infect
Equation for infectivity
Number infected/number susceptible x100
Pathogenicity
ability to cause disease
Equation for pathogenicity
Number with clinical disease/number infected x100
Virulence
ability to cause death
Equation for virulence
Number of deaths/number with disease x100
What are 3 gram positive species?
- staphylococci
- streptococci
- enterococci
What are enterococci shaped like?
Not completely round or or oblong, kind of in between
Fat rods
Staphylococci grow in ____
Clusters
Streptococci grow in ___
chains
Streptococci have what direction plane of splitting?
Vertical –> forms chains
Diplococci have what direction plane of splitting?
Vertical, then vertical
or
Vertical, then horizontal
Staphylococci have what direction plane of splitting?
diagonal – forms clusters
____ are aerobic or facultative anaerobic
Staphylococci
_____ grows in 7.5% NaCl
Staphylococci (halophilic)
Which produces catalase, staph or strep?
Staph
Products of catalase activity
oxygen (bubbles) and h2o
____ are mostly facultative anaerobes, some anaerobes
Streptococci
Streptococci are ____ organisms, needing enriched media to grow
fastidious
True or false: staphylococci ferment well
False - streptococci are more known for fermentation
Streptococci perform ____ ____ to produce lactic acid from glucose
homolactic fermentation
_____ do not produce catalase
Streptococci
Describe S. aureus colonies
Large colonies, “golden” cream color
Non s. aureus is white in color
What type of hemolysis can staphylococci do?
Often beta hemolysis
Describe streptococci colonies
Small, white
wider
What type of hemolysis can streptococci do?
Some can do alpha hemolysis, some species cannot do hemolysis at all
Where does S. aureus colonize?
anterior nares and/or skin of 30% of normal individuals
More than 80% of patients with ______ carry S. aureus
eczema/atopic dermatitis
(due to skin barrier being compromised)
S. aureus is often associated with _____ infection, transmission by carriers
nosocomial
acquired at hospital, not present during the time of admission
What virulence factor distinguishes S. aureus from other staphylococci?
Coagulase
Coagulase is an enzyme that clots ____. It is produced by:
plasma; S. aureus (but not other staphylococci)
Function of coagulase
cross-link bacteria in the clot to escape host immune system
True or false: S. aureus has a polysaccharide capsule
True - inhibits phagocytosis
Most strains of S. aureus encode _______
penicillinase (beta lactamase) on plasmid
Staphylokinase
- converts plasminogen to plasmin, which cleaves C3b opsonin and IgG
- inhibits phagocytosis by PMN
Staphylokinase is a virulence factor of:
S. aureus
Superoxide dismutase is found in:
S. aureus
Superoxide dismutase causes resistance to:
phagocytes, which release superoxides
Chemotaxis inhibitory protein is a virulence factor of:
S. aureus
Chemotaxis inhibitory protein
- competitively binds to neutrophil formyl peptide receptor and C5a receptor
- harder to contain and kill pathogens
True or false: S. aureus can resist lysozymes
True - they have altered muramic acid in NAM, harder to damage cell walls
Where are exotoxins produced?
Inside the cell, then exported out
Example of S. aureus exotoxin
Protein A
Most common cause of Impetigo
S. aureus
Cellulitis can occur due to infection by _____
S. aureus
(also caused by Streptococcus pyogenes)
Cellulitis
infection of dermal and subcutaneous connective tissue
Impetigo looks like:
Honey colored crusts
True or false: impetigo is not infectious
False - highly infectious
S. aureus cellulitis (can’t use topical creams)
S. aureus cellulitis
Furuncle
Carbuncle
_____ target intestines
Enterotoxins
Difference between exotoxins and endotoxins
exotoxins - produced inside cell and exported out
endotoxins - usually part of organism’s cell wall
Enterotoxins can act as ____ when expressed systemically
superantigens
What can happen if exotoxins are eaten?
Bacterial intoxication (food poisoning)
TSST-1 is a ______
Superantigen
What does a superantigen do?
- activate large numbers of T cells by binding outside of MHC-II and TCR complex
- antigen independent
- massive release of cytokines (IL-1, TNF), leading to fever, organ failure
True or false: S. aureus exotoxin can also suppress normal immune response
True
Name some exotoxins produced by S. aureus
- TSST-1
- Protein A
- Enterotoxins (specifically enterotoxin A)
During normal phagocytosis, ___ binds to ____ and then to ____
IgG; S. aureus; PMN receptor (Fc region)
Protein A function
Exotoxin: Protein A-mediated immune evasion
hinders opsonization/phagocytosis –> IgG now in wrong orientation
How does Protein A hinder phagocytosis?
Protein A binds to Fc region of IgG so it cannot bind to PMN. Decreases phagocytosis
Staphylococcal food poisoning is caused by:
S. aureus enterotoxin A
Main symptom of S. aureus food poisoning
Projectile vomiting 1-6 hours after ingestion, nausea, cramps, diarrhea
True or false: you won’t die from Staph food poisoning unless you are dehydrated
True
Enterotoxins directly affect ____
intestinal epithelium
TSST-1 is also known as:
- enterotoxin B
- pyrogenic exotoxin
True or false: males are not affected by TSST
False - can acquire through deep tissue infection
Females can acquire TSST via:
high-absorbancy tampon
Cytotoxins a, b, d, g, are associated with:
S. aureus
Cytotoxins a, b, d, g are toxic for what kinds of cells?
Many blood cells, including RBC, WBC
Exfoliatin A and B are toxins of:
S. aureus
Exfoliatin A and B are ____. What do they do?
- They are serine proteases that cleave desmoglein-1
- split desmosomes in epidermis
- Results in Scalded Skin Syndrome
What is the most common cause of osteomyelitis?
S. aureus (exception = osteomyelitis of the mandible)
What is osteomyelitis?
Inflammation of bone/marrow
True or false: S. aureus can cause acute endocarditis
True
How is acute endocarditis acquired?
from staphylococcal bacteremia, which originates from skin infection, surgery, IV catheter
Acute endocarditis can lead to:
heart failure, septic emboli
Acute endocarditis mortality rate
50%
What is septic emboli?
- can be caused by S. aureus
- embolism that can dislodge and spread through the body
Most strains of S. aureus are resistant to ______ because _____
Penicillin; they produce penicillinase
Penicillinase of S. aureus is mediated by:
Plasmid
DOC to S. aureus resistant to penicillin
Methicillin (penicillinase resistant penicillin)
MRSA
Methicillin resistant Staph Aureus
True or false: methicillin also has a B lactam ring
True - but penicillinase from S. aureus has a harder time getting to it
True or false: MRSA is not very common
False - now common in around 60% hospital isolates
MRSA is encoded by:
mecA
mobile genetic element that inserted itself on the chromosome
MecA gene produces:
PBP2a (penicillin binding protein, binds to B lactam antibiotics to prevent binding to transpeptidase
DOC for MRSA
Vancomycin
MRSA colonizes ____ of healthy people
2%
Majority of MRSA causes what kind of infections?
skin or soft tissue infections
In hospital associated facilities, MRSA is associated with:
Not the majority of S. aureus cases
- bloodstream infections
- pneumonia
- surgical site infections
- sepsis
- death