Sketchy Micro: Chlamydia Flashcards
Chlamydia is an obligate _____________.
intracellular (like how the pirate ship is on the island)
How might chlamydia appear on Gram stain?
It does not Gram stain, so it will be white (like the island).
Why is Chlamydia an obligate intracellular?
It cannot make ATP.
Chlamydia’s cell wall lacks _____________.
muramic acid
This fact is represented by the “No MeRMaid” sign hanging from the ship.
What are the two stages of Chlamydia’s life cycle (and what function is served at each stage)?
Elementary: enters cells
Reticular: divides inside cells
(“elemENTary ENTers; REtICular REplICates.”)
(Think of the individual pearls entering the sea –to infect other islands –and the dividing pearls on the beach – replicating inside cells.)
How might Chlamydia appear under a microscope?
The reticular cells can appear as cellular inclusions (like the piles of pearls on the island).
What test makes Chlamydia visible?
The Giemsa stain (represented by the chest of GEMS)
There are three strains of Chlamydia trochomatis. What does each do?
A-C: blindness (“A-C… I can’t see.”)
D-K: STI
L1-L3: Lymphogranuloma venereum
D-K causes what signs and symptoms?
Watery discharge (which is in contrast to gonorrhea, which has a mucopurulent discharge)
PID (the uterus skull flag)
Neonatal pneumonia and conjunctivitis (represented by the mother covering the baby’s eyes and the baby wearing a clam-shell bra)
How might conjunctivitis and pneumonia present in neonatal chlamydia?
Conjunctivitis: later presentation than gonorrhea (in which, if you remember the Sketchy video, the mother was quickly covering the baby’s eyes)
Pneumonia: a staccato cough –short, abrupt, rapid fire coughs
What is LGV?
Lymphogranuloma venereum initially presents with a painless ulcer and then progresses to tender lymphadenopathy.
Describe Chlamydia trochomatis A-C.
It is the leading cause of blindness worldwide, and it is transmitted from hand-to-eye contact and through fomites.
(Think of the captain with two eye patches –he’s the leader of the ship and he’s blind; and he is holding his hand up to his face, symbolizing the mode of transmission.)
What is Reiter’s syndrome?
The triad of symptoms presenting in reactive arthritis: can’t see (uveitis), can’t pee (urethritis), can’t climb a tree (arthritis).
(Think of the pirate slapping his knee –reactive arthritis – with the monkeys: one with a malfunctioning telescope, one who hit his crotch on the sail beam, and one not able to climb a tree.)
Describe Chlamydophila pneumonitis and Chlamydophila psittaci.
C. pneumonitis causes walking pneumonia in adults and C. psittaci also causes walking pneumonia in adults, but it is transmitted by birds (like the bird SITTing on the mast and pooping on the mermaids bra)
How should Chlamydia be treated?
Good question: tetracyclines and macrolides specifically treat Chlamydia, but co-infection with Neisseria gonorrhoeae is so common that empiric treatment entails treating for both, so ceftriaxone is added.
(Think of the crows on the crow’s nest, the bike-wheel steering wheel, and the three axes on the main flag above the captain who is borrowing Mac’s hat from the gonorrhea sketch.)
