Mycoplasma, chlamydia, rickettsia, spirochetes, and curved rods (complete) Flashcards

1
Q

What are the smallest free living microbes

A

Mycoplasmas

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2
Q

What are three significant structures that most bacterial organisms have, but mycoplasmas do not

A

cytochromes
enzymes of the krebs cycle
cell walls

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3
Q

What is necessary for the groth of mycoplasmas

A

cholesterol (sterols)

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4
Q

Where do you usually find colonized mycoplasmas in the human body

A

the mucus membranes or respiratory and urinary tracts

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5
Q

What is the mycoplasma that causes walking pneumonia

A

mycoplasma pneumonia

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6
Q

what is another name for walking pneumonia

A

primary atypical pneumonia

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7
Q

Where does mycoplasma pneumonia attach

A

to receptors at the bases of cilia on respiratory epithelial cells

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8
Q

What is different about walking pneumonia (primary atypical pneumonia) caused by mycoplasma pneumoniae

A

it causes a fever, headache, and sore throat those aren’t typically pneumonia symptoms

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9
Q

how is walking pneumonia spread

A

by nasal secretions among people in close contact

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10
Q

how serious is walking pneumonia

A

it is usually not severe enough to require hospitalization and death

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11
Q

Why is diagnosis difficult for mycoplasma pneumoniae

A

because they are small and slow growing

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12
Q

why is treatment of walking pneumonia difficult

A

because patients can be infected for a long time without signs or symptoms

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13
Q

how big is rickettsias

A

Extremely small

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14
Q

what is the cell wall of rickettsias like

A

it has such a small amount of peptidoglycan that it appears almost wall less

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15
Q

Rickettsias are OBLIGATE INTRACELLULAR PARASITES, what is unusual about them?

A

it is unusual that an obligate intracellular parasite has functional genes for:
protein synthesis
ATP production
and reproduction

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16
Q

What are the four genera of rickettsia that cause disease in humans

A

Rickettsia
Orienta
Ehrlichia
Anaplasma

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17
Q

What causes rocky mountain spotted fever

A

Rickettsia Rickettsii

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18
Q

How is Rocky mountain spotted fever (Rickettsia Rickettsii) transmitted

A

it is transmitted by infected wood ticks (hard ticks)

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19
Q

What causes epidemic typhus

A

Rickettsia Prowazekii

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20
Q

What is the primary host of rickettsia prowazekii

A

humans

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21
Q

how is Rickettsia Prowazekii transmitted

A

by infected lice (when their feces is rubbed into a bite)

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22
Q

what is the mortality rate of epidemic typhus without treatments

A

70%

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23
Q

What is it called when epidemic typhus occurs many years later

A

Brill-Zinsser disease

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24
Q

What is the structure of chlamydial cell walls

A

Two membranes without any peptidoglycan between them

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25
Q

Chlamydias are obligate intracellular parasites, but where inside the cell do chlamydias grow

A

only within the vesicles of host cells

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26
Q

What is unique about Chlamydia’s developmental cycle

A

it involves two forms Elementary Bodies (EB) and Reticulate Bodies (RB).

  1. EBs enter the cell via endocytosis
  2. EB converts into RB
  3. RB rapidly divides
  4. Most RBs convert back into EBs
  5. EBs are released from the host cell
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27
Q

how is chlamydia diagnosed

A

with a direct fluorescent Ab test

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28
Q

What is the bacteria that causes a sexually Transmitted disease and Trachoma

A

Chlamydia Trachomatis

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29
Q

What is the problem associated with the chlamydia STD

A

Lymphogranuloma veneruem

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30
Q

what strain of chlamydia trachomatis causes lymphogranuloma veneruem

A

the LGV strand of chlamydia trachomatis

31
Q

how is the infection of men and women with the LGV strain of C. trachomatis different

A

it is mostly in women, but most are asymptomatic (85%)

most of the men who are infected have symptoms (75%)

32
Q

What is Trachoma

A

the leading cause of non-traumatic blindness in humans in which the bacteria multiplying in conjuctival cells results in scarring, this causes the eyelashes to turn inward and abrade the eye.

33
Q

How is the trachoma transmitted

A

either to children at birth, or from genital C. Trachomatis bacteria infecting the eye

34
Q

What are spirochetes

A

thin, tightly coiled, helically shaped bacteria

35
Q

what must you do to see spirochetes

A

you must use dark-field to see them

36
Q

What are the cell walls of spirochetes like

A

they are gram negative walls, but they have flagella located in the periplasmic space

37
Q

What are the spirochete flagella called

A

endoflagella or axial filaments

38
Q

how do spirochetes move

A

in a corkscrew fashion, the pathogenic ones can burrow through their hosts tissues

39
Q

what are the three genera of spirochetes that are pathogenic to humans, in order of most tightly coiled to most loosely coiled

A

Leptospira (tight coils)
Treponema (8-20 coils)
Borrelia (3-10 coils)

40
Q

Where is the only place that treponema palliidum pallidum lives naturally

A

in humans (obligate parasite)

41
Q

What causes syphilis

A

treponema pallidum pallidum

42
Q

what is almost the only way that syphilis is transmitted

A

via sexual contact, but it can be spread from infected mother to fetus

43
Q

what occurs when a fetus is infected with syphilis

A

death, mental retardation, or malformations

44
Q

What are the three stages of a syphilis infection

A

Primary: Chancre at contact site (3-6 weeks)
Secondary: Rash and chondyloma lata (grey, flat, wart-like lesions(6 weeks))
Tertiary: Gummas and neurologic symptoms (years later)

45
Q

What are the two diseases caused by borrelia

A

lyme disease and relapsing fever

46
Q

What is the bacteria that causes Lyme disease

A

borrelia borgdorferi

47
Q

how is lyme disease spread

A

by ticks (deer tick) (and potentially sexually)

48
Q

How is lyme disease treated

A

with penicillin or tetracycline

49
Q

What are the three phases of lymes disease in untreated patients

A
  1. An expanding bulls-eye rash
  2. neurological symptoms and cardiac dysfunction
  3. severe arthritis that can last for years
50
Q

Are cases of lyme’s disease increasing or decreasing

A

increasing due to living proximity between humans and deer ticks

51
Q

how successful are treatments of lymes disease

A

they are pretty sucessful if done in the first stage of lyme disease, they are less successful after because at that point the damage is mostly done by the immune system

52
Q

how is lyme’s disease prevented

A

avoiding ticks

53
Q

Where is leptospira interrogans normally found

A

in wild and domestic animals (causes leptospirosis)

54
Q

how is leptospira interrogans transmitted to humans

A

via direct contact with infected animal’s urine, or via contact of contaminated streams, lakes, or moist soil

55
Q

how does leptospira interrogans enter the body

A

via invisible cuts and abraisions in the skin and mucus membranes

56
Q

once leptospira interrogans enters the body how does it move

A

via the bloodstream

57
Q

What typically happens with a leptospira interrogans infection

A

the bacteremia resolves itself and the bacteria are only found in the kidneys and in excreted urine

58
Q

what is the most widespread zoonotic disease

A

leptospirosis

59
Q

What causes cholera

A

vibrio cholerae, but there must be a large inoculum because the acidity in the stomach can kill them

60
Q

what is the most important virulence factor of vibrio cholerae

A

cholera toxin

61
Q

what does cholera cause

A

firehose diarrhea

62
Q

What is the mechanism of cholera causing diarrhea

A
  1. cholera binds to the epithelial cells
  2. portion of toxin (A1) enters the cell
  3. A1 stimulates adenylate cyclase
  4. cAMP is synthesized
  5. cAMP stimulates the cell to release Cl-, Na+ and other electrolytes
  6. this draws water into the lumen = firehose diarrhea
63
Q

Are all cholera infections severe

A

no, some are asymptomatic, others only cause slight diarrhea

64
Q

What are the symptoms of a severe cholera infection

A
  1. watery diarrhea (rice-water stool)
  2. vomiting
  3. severe dehydration and electrolyte loss
  4. dramatic weight loss
65
Q

How is cholera treated

A

fluid and electrolyte replacement

66
Q

What is likely the most common cause of gastroenteritis in the US

A

campylobacter jejuni

67
Q

how do humans become infected with campylobacter jejuni

A

consumption of contaminated food, milk, water, and poultry (poultry is the most common)

68
Q

how is campylobacter jejuni prevented

A

proper food handling and preparation

69
Q

what are the symptoms of a campylobacter jejuni infection

A

self-limiting bloody and frequent diarrhea

70
Q

What is the bacteria that is implicated with 90% of stomach and duodenal ulcers

A

helicobacter pylori

71
Q

What leads to a higher incidence of uclers

A

type O blood, the helicobacter pylori uses the O antigen on gastric cells as a receptor

72
Q

what does helicobacter pylori do that allows it to live in the stomach

A

it produces a potent urease the produces ammonia and bicarbonate

73
Q

how does helicobacter pylori cause ulcers

A

by causing the mucus layer in the stomach to become thin and go away. This allows the stomach acid to destroy tissue