Micro- Staphylococci & Staphylococcal Disease Flashcards
Where is the most common reservoir for staph aureus?
What is overall carriage rate? Prolonged? Intermittent?
How does it get introduced to the body?
It commonly is in the anterior nasal vestibule of healthy people. Overall carriage rate is about 30% [2% for MRSA]
- 60% intermittent
- 20% prolonged [nasopharynx and on the skin]
When there is trauma or another penetrating event, it can be introduced into the body
What is a carbuncle?
Lesion resulting from the lateral and deeper extension of S. aureus from the skin. It has multiple openings with pus discharge.
What is exfoliatin?
Extracellular product of some strains of S. aureus that is responsible for the intraepidermal splitting of tissues and necrosis seen in Staph Scalded Skin Syndrome
What are the 3 most medically important species of staphylococci?
How are they differentiated in a lab?
All staph strains are G+ cocci in clusters that are catalase+.
- S. aureus = coagulase +
- S. epidermidis = coagulase -
- S. saprophyticus = coagulase -, novobiocin resistant
What are the 8 main diseases that can be caused by S. aureus?
- localized skin infection
- localized skin infections with diffuse rash
- septicemia
- endocarditis, pericarditis
- pulmonary infections
- osteomyelitis
- septic arthritis
- food-borne disease [toxin-mediated]
In patients particularly prone to colonization by S. aureus in the anterior nares, what can be done?
Mupirocin [topical antimicrobial agent] can be applied to the anterior nares
What genetic system controls the expression of many of the virulence factors of S. aureus?
Global regulatory proteint: SarA
Global regulatory system : agr
How does agr [global regulatory system] control the expression of virulence factors for S. aureus?
It is a two-component sensory transduction system that responds to the bacterial density [#bac/volume]
If bacterial density is LOW the system expresses surface proteins like adhesins.
If bacterial density is HIGH, the system expresses exoproteins/toxins
What are the 4 surface factors involved in S. aureus pathogenesis?
- polysaccharide capsule - antiphagocytic
- MSCRAMM [microbial surface component reacting with adherence matrix molecule] - bind to human proteins like IgG, fibrinogen and collagen
- Lipoteichoic acids - bound to bacterial cytoplasmic membrane and are inflammatory factors
- Peptidoglycan - anchors MSCRAMMs, inflammatory
What are MSCRAMMs?
S. aureus bacterial surface adhesins that bind to a number of different human host proteins like IgG, fibrinogen, collagen.
They use LPXTG anchoring domain
What are the 3 main secreted proteins/toxins that give S. aureus virulence?
- exoenzymes like:
- protease, lipase, hyaluronidase that can help infection spread in tissue
- a-helical peptides [PSMa] that kills neutrophils - hemolysins [a,b,d,g] - form lytic pores in eukaryotic cells
- a kills macrophages and lymphocytes [MRSA pneumonia] - S. aureus superantigen family - exfoliative toxin, TSST-1, staphylococcal enterotoxin = bypass normal immune system activation
What exoenzyme does S. aureus use to kill neutrophils?
What strain has particularly high levels of this exoenzyme?
PSM-a [a-helical peptides]
In high levels in community MRSA
What S. aureus secreted protein kills macrophages and lymphocytes and is the major virulence factor for producing pneumonia in community-associated MRSA?
a-hemolysin
What are the 3 major S. aureus superantigens?
What do superantigens do?
- TSST-1
- exfoliative toxin
- staphylococcal enterotoxin
They bypass the normal interaction between immune cells and antigens causing non-specific activation of 20% of the total T cells in the body causing massive cytokine release leading to:
- hypotension
- fever
- shock
What 2 S. aureus virulence factors are necessary for colonization of the host?
What is necessary for invasion?
Colonization of the anterior nares:
- teichoic acid of the cell wall
- MSCRAMMs
Invasion requires a break in the integrity of the skin/mucosa
What is the host response to infection by S. aureus?
After the bacteria breaches the epithelium or mucosa:
- chemotactic response occurs as a result of staph factors [esp. lipoteichoic acid] triggering complement activation.
- host factors opsonize staph and they are ingested by phagocytes where the bacteria is killed
What are the 6 “localized infections of the skin” caused by S. aureus?
- folliculitis
- furuncles
- impetigo
- mastitis - nursing mothers
- wound infection -post surgical
- erysipelas, cellulitis, fasciitis
What is folliculitis? Furuncles? Carbuncle?
Folliculitis - infection of the hair follicle
Furuncle- boils–more extensive infection involving hair follicles.
Carbuncle - coalesced furuncles that extend into subcutaneous tissue