Micro: Bacterial STIs Flashcards
Name the two main STIs that create a painful genital ulcer.
Herpes
Chancroid (H. ducreyi)
Gold standard to diagnose Syphilis
Darkfield microscopy
How does the genital ulcer appear in the primary stage of syphilis?
Well circumscribed ulcer, clear base w/o exudate
it’s also painless
Symptoms of secondary syphilis.
Moth eaten alopecia muscle aches mucosal lesions weight loss fever
Biggest complication of tertiary syphilis.
Tabes Dorsalis
- demyelination of dorsal columns and dorsal horns
- complete sensory failure
- lightning pain
- Argyll Robertson Pupil
- Romberg Sign
- absent DTR
Symptoms of EARLY congenital syphilis
Snuffles, anemia, hepatosplenomegaly, CNS disease
Symptoms of LATE congenital syphilis
8th nerve deafness, raspberry molars, Hutchinson (notched) incisors, sabre shins, saddle nose, cutaneous gummas
Name the two Non-Treponemal tests and how they work.
Rapid Plasma Reagin (RPR) test
Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) test
-both look for Abs against cardiolipin (a protein that is produced during a syphilis infection)
-they also measure IgG and IgM levels in response to an infection
If positive, a more specific Treponemal test is ordered.
How do Treponemal Tests work?
Uses a treponemal-like antigen and mixes it with a sample of patients blood. If there are antibodies against it, the reaction will be seen when the immune complexes form.
STI that grows in a “school of fish” pattern on microscopy.
Chancroid (H. ducreyi)
Type of ulcer in chancroid.
Very painful, friable,ragged borders with yellow gray purulent exudate
STI with large, painful, inflamed inguinal lymph nodes.
Chlamydia
How is chlamydia diagnosed?
Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT)
STI that presents with beefy red genital ulcers
Klebsiella granulomatis
disease is called Granuloma Inguinale or in older texts: Donovanosis
Agar designed to specifically grow Neisseria sp.
Thayer Martin
