Microbiology Flashcards
Mechanisms of resistance (AMR) (4)
- Impermeable outer wall
- Efflux pumps
- Alter target
- Destroy/modify compound
Strategies for reducing AMR in general? (6)
Reduce disease
1. Improve sanitation
2. Vaccination
3. Indirect effects e.g. improving overall health –> reduce hospitalisations –> reduce hospital acquired infections/less likely to receive antibiotics
4. IPC
Reduce inappropriate use of antibiotics
5. Tackle agricultural use
6. Improve diagnostics
7. Patient/prescriber interaction
Plague - bacteria
Gram negative rod - Yersinia pestis, Yersinia enterocolitica, Yersinia pseudotuberculosis
Extracellular (can be seen on blood film with bipolar appearance i.e. the ends of the bacteria stain more intensely than the middle)
Non lactose fermenting
Plague - clinical forms
Bubonic
Septicaemia
Pneumonic
Plague - transmission
- Vector borne - carried by fleas (xenopsylla cheopis)
- Droplet contact - coughing/sneezing
- Direct physical contact - contact with pus including sexual and unsafe burial practices
- Indirect contact - e.g. soil
- Airborne transmission
- Faecal-oral
Plague - clinical features
Incubation 1-7 days
Buboes - tender, smooth, inflamed lymp nodes related to the site of the flea bite
Septicaemia - multi-organ failure, DIC, may progress to peripheral gangrene
Rapidly progressive pneumonia (2-4 days)
Plague - diagnosis
Microscopy and staining and/or culture:
1. Lymph node aspirate
2. Blood cultures - may be seen in blood smears or cultured
3. Sputum/bronchial/tracheal washings cultures
Rapid tests available for endemic areas (F1 antigen testing)
Plague - treatment and PrEP/PEP
Pneumonic/septicaemic
- Aminoglycosides, fluroquinolones
Bubonic
- Aminoglycosides, doxycycline, fluroquinolones
Meningitis
- Chloramphenicol, moxifloxacin
PrEP - Doxycycline/Co-trimoxazole 7 days
PEP - Doxycycline/co-trimoxazole
Meliodosis - bacteria
Burkholderia pseudomallei
Gram negative bacillus, oxidase positive, environmental saprophyte (likes to decay things)
Meliodosis - risk factors for diseases (3)
Diabetes, renal failure, steroids
Meliodosis - clinical features (9)
- CNS - encephalomyelitis, brain abscess
- CVS - bacteraemia, pericarditis, mycotic aneurysm
- Urinary tract - pyelo, kidney abscess, prostatic abscess
- Head & neck - Parotid abscess (common in children), lymphadenitis
- Respiratory system - pneumonia, pulmonary abscess, pleuritis
- GI - Liver abscess, splenic abscess, para-intestinal mass
- Skin and soft tissue - Skin ulcer, skin abscesses
- MSK - Septic arthritis, myositis, OM
Meliodosis - diagnosis
- *Culture (hazard 3 organism) - slow growing with distinctive crinkled appearance on agar
- Serology but issues with sens/spec (false positives an issue in endemic regions)
- PCR
- Antigen detection
Meliodosis - treatment
- Intensive phase > 2 weeks IV ceftazidime/carbapenem
- Eradication phase > 12 weeks oral co-trimoxazole
Scrub typhus - bacteria
Orientia tsutsugamushi (gram negative bacilli)
Scrub typhus epidemiology
Primarily in the “tsutsugamushi triangle” (Asia-Pacific region), including Southeast Asia, India, Northern Australia, and parts of China and Japan.
Scrub typhus - clinical presentation
Non-specific - fever, headache, lymphadenopathy, nausea and vomiting
Painless eschar often diagnostic
Complications include meningoencephalitis, ARDS and hepatitis
Scrub typhus -transmission
Bite of infected chiggers (larval stage of trombiculid mites)
Scrub typhus - treatment
Doxycycline and/or azithromycin
Scrub typhus - investigations
- Indirect Immunofluorescence Assay (IFA): Gold standard for diagnosis, detects Orientia tsutsugamushi-specific antibodies.
- Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA): Commonly used and highly sensitive for detecting IgM antibodies.
Leptospirosis - definition
Zoonosis Leptospira - sprirochaete bacterium
Indirect or direct contact with urine from infected animals like rats
Leptospirosis - diagnostics
Gold standard: Serology - MAT/ELISA
Urine + blood - PCR
Culture - takes ages
ALT rise
AKI
Thrombocytopenia
Rhabdo
Leptospirosis - clinical presentation
Acute: Fever, rigors, myalgia, headache, conjunctival suffusion
Immune phase: Aseptic meningitis, jaundice, renal failure, pulmonary haemorrhage
Leptospirosis - Treatment
PO doxycycline or azithromycin
Severe: IV penicillin or ceftriaxone
N.B jarish-herxheimer reaction to antibiotics
Acute rheumatic fever
Acute multisystem, inflammatory process occuring 2-3 weeks after infection with group A strep
Group A strep - bacteria
Streptococcus pyogenes - beta haemolytic cocci in chains
Acute rheumatic fever - clinical symptoms
Joint pain (not deforming, responds to NSAIDs)
Carditis (MV –> AV)
Chorea
Erythema marginatum
Fever
SC nodules
Acute rheumatic fever - management
Suppressive abx
NSAIDs/analgesia
Tetanus - organism
Clostridium tetani - anaerobic gram positive bacilli (drumstick appearance)
Toxins are Tetanolysin and tetanospasmin
Tetanus - pathophysiology
Toxins bind to receptors on inhibitory interneurons like GABA, therefore toxin causes sustained muscle spasms
Tetanus - clinical features
Muscle stiffness, spasms, autonomic dysfunction
Cardiovascular instability, fever, voice change
Tetanus - treatment including supportive care (8)
- Toxin removal - wound debridement
- Antibiotics - metronidazole
- Antitoxin (intrathecal or IM, human or equine)
- Control muscle spasms - Mg and benzodiazepines
- Airway support - tracheostomy and secretion management
- Mechanical ventilation
- Autonomic support - Mg and cooling
- Cardiovascular support
Enteric fever - definition
Salmonella typhi and paratyphi
Gram negative bacilli