Lecture 32 & 33- Neisseria

Question 1

What is the etiology of Gonorrhea?

Answer 1

Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Question 2

How do you grow out Neisseria gonorrhoeae?

Answer 2

grown in capneix incubation- decreased O2, increased CO2
Thayer martin selective agar (chocolate agar with vancomycin [G+], colistin/polymixin E [G- rods], nystatin [yeasts])
Phylum is proteobacteria

Question 3

How is Neisseria gonorrhoeae transmitted?

Answer 3

STD (almost exclusively)
opthalmia neonatorum
humans are the only host
can last a few hours on a fomite

Question 4

What is the morbidity of Neisseria gonorrhoeae?

Answer 4

350,000 reported cases in USA
10-20% of males are healthy carriers
67-75% of females are healthy carriers

Question 5

What are the symptoms of gonorrhea?

Answer 5

urethritis- purulent (pus) discharge [called the drip]
dysuria- endotoxin released and causes painful urination
frequent urination
cervicitis (in females, infection of cervix)

Question 6

What are the complications of gonorrhea?

Answer 6

Pelvic inflammatory disease- causes 66% of PID. 10% result in sterility (hysterectomy in F, epididymis infection in M)
septic arthritis- commonly affects the knees
[IN MALES]
urethral stricture- scar tissue buildup in urethra
chronic prostatitis- inflammation of the prostate

Question 7

What are the “other” forms of gonorrhea?

Answer 7

anal gonorrhea

pharyngeal gonorrhea- throat

Question 8

Describes the methods of diagnosing gonorrhea

Answer 8

MICROSCOPICALLY
tests for gonorrhea and chlamydia at the same time
collect pus, gram stain (G-)
99% accurate in males
50% accurate in females
CULTURES
swab urethra
grow out on thayer martin selective agar (chcolate; contains vancomycin, colistin/polymixin E, nystatin)
60% accuracy in males, 40% in females
BIOCHEMICAL
oxidase and carbohydrate tests
SEROLOGY
not reliable because neisseria mutates too quickly
PCR
most accurate
expensive
looks at DNA from urine sample

Question 9

What is the treatment of gonorrhea?

Answer 9

Ceftriaxone (for gonorrhea and syphillis)
tetracycline or azithromycin (for chlamydia, though syphillis is resistant to azithromycin)
erythromycin for babies at risk of opthalmia neonatorum

Question 10

Describe meningitis

[etiology, morbidity, transmission, treatment, prevention]

Answer 10

Neisseria menigitides
1% of the population goes clinical with this
kills within a few hours
spreads through droplets
DOC is penicillin G given IV
prevention is getting the vaccine or ciprofloxacin