Gastrointestinal Infections Flashcards
Helpful incubation periods
Most are 2-4 days
E. coli O157 is 2-6 days (really long)
Toxins are really short
What diagnostics can you use for bacterial infections?
NEED selective media
Stools from patients in the hospital more than 3 days are rejected (wont be from the community)
Formed stool is rejected
Media: XLD, Camplobacter agar, MacConkey agar, Sorbital MacConkey agar
TCBS agar for Vibrio if requested
Campylobacter
Gram negative, highly motile, spiral rod
C. jejuni and C. coli
Thermophilic
Microaerophilic
Isolation on blood/charcoal containing agar + antibiotics
C fetus occasionally associated with disease (non-thermophilic)
Incubation period 2-4 days
Infective dose ~10,000 cells
Prodrome of fever, myalgia, etc
Diarrhea (maybe bloody), abdominal pain and malaise
Usually self limiting (within 7 days)
Has been associated with Guillain Barre syndrome
Salmonella enterica
2000 serovars
Motile (H antigen) - also O and Vi antigen
Gastroenteritis (fever, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, headache, myalgia)
Incubation period dose dependent
Symptoms in 48-72 hours
Duration 2-7 days
Not treated!! Unless less than 6 months or over 50 years
Pre-enrichment broths, XLD, HE, SS, Bismuth-sulfite agar
O, H and Vi antigens for Salmonella
O: characteristic sequence of repeating polysaccharide units in LPS
H: flagellar antigens (protein) and may occur in one of two phase variations
Vi: a capsular polysaccharide (ONLY S typhi)
Kauffmann-White antigenic scheme
Agglutination reactions with specific antisera against Salmonella antigens
Why do we treat people who are less than 6 months or over 50 for Salmonella
Less than 6 months: do not make enough stomach acid
Over 50: acidity of stomach goes down
Salmonella Enteric Fever
Caused by S. typhi
Incubation period 10 to 14 days
Bacteremic illness (myalgia and headache, fever, splenomegaly, leukopenia, abdominal pain, rash on abdomen)
Positive blood, bone marrow, urine, and stool cultures
Sequelae: intestinal hemorrhage and perforation
XLD media
Selective and differential medium designed for the isolation of gram-negative enteric pathogens from clinical specimens
Contains xylose, lysine, sodium desoxycholate, sodium thiosulfate and ferric ammonium citrate
Most commonly used
For salmonella and shigella
Xylose fermentation on plate, turns yellow (shigella stays red), runs out and then salmonella will decarboxylate lysine and go back to red
Black from H2S
Typical enteric will stay yellow
E coli O157:H7
Incubation period: ~3-8 days
Diarrhoea: mild to grossly bloody (haemorrhagic colitis)
Severe abdominal cramping frequent
Hemolytic uremia syndrome: up to 10% of cases (anemia / thrombocytopenia / kidney damage)
Significant mortality (~1-5%)
A number of non-0157 strains can also produce a shiga like toxin
Cows are reservoir
Virtually all do NOT ferment sorbitol
Do NOT treat
Shiga like toxin
Distinguishing virulence factor for O157
Subunit toxin
A: acts at ribosomal level, inhibits protein synthesis
B: Binds glycolipid receptor in mammalian cells (renal endothelium)
Shigella
TSI K/A with NO gas, Urea -, Motility -, all ferment mannitol except S. dysenteriae
Shigellosis or bacillary dysentery
Fecal-oral route, may be person to person, infective dose VERY low (10-100 organisms), animals dont harbour it
2-4 day incubation followed by fever, cramping, abdominal pain, and watery diarrhea
May be followed by frequent, scant stools with blood, mucous, and pus (due to invasion of intestinal mucosa).
Severity of disease depends upon infecting species
O antigen is similar to E. coli, so it is important to ID as Shigella before doing serotyping
Yersinia enterocolitica
Swine most common source Virulence result of tissue invasion Rare on East Coast Use MacConkey agar May mimic appendicitis
3 similarities between Vibrio/Aeromonas/Plesiomonas and Enterobacteriaceae
Gram negative
Facultative anaerobes
Fermentive bacilli
2 differences between Vibrio/Aeromonas/Plesiomonas and Enterobacteriaceae
Polar flagella
Oxidase positive
Vibrio
Comma shaped bacilli Broad temp (18-37) and pH (7-9) range Grow on MacConkey and TCBS V cholerae grow without salt >200 serogroups Incubation period 2-3 days, need high infectious dose Abrupt onset of vomiting and life threatening watery diarrhea Feces changes to rice water stool