Staphylococci Flashcards
Are staphylococci catalase positive or negative?
Catalase POSITIVE
Are staphylococci motile?
No
What is the aerobic status of staphylococci?
Facultative anaerobes.
They undergo aerobic respiration but are capable of growing under the absence of oxygen by undergoing fermentation.
What is the general appearance of staphylococci described as?
Bunch of grapes
Where is staphylococci generally found?
- External environment
- Anterior nose
- Perineum
- Axillae
- Vagina
What are factors that can predispose a person to serious staphylococci infection?
- Defects in leukocyte chemotaxis
- Defects in opsonization by antibodies secondary to congenital or acquired hypogammaglobulinemias or complement component
- Defects in intracellular killing of bacteria following phagocytosis due to inability to activate the membrane bound oxidase system
- Skin injuries
- Presence of foreign bodies
- Infection with other agents - viruses
What are the usual sites of staphylococci infection?
- Skin
- Nose and Throat
- GI Tract/Urethra/Vagina
Pyoderma
Pyoderma means any skin disease that is pyogenic.
Furuncle
Furuncle (or boil) skin disease caused by infection of hair follicles, resulting in localized accumulation of pus and dead tissue.
Carbuncle
Carbuncle is an abscess larger than a boil, usually with one or more openings draining pus onto the skin.
What are the virulence facts of S. aureus?
– Capsules – Protein A – Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (PVL) – Coagulase – Hemolysins
What is the function of capsules in virulence?
Prevent ingestion of organism by PMNs
What is the function of Protein A in virulence?
Binds Fc region of IgG, interfering with opsonization and ingestion of organism by PMNs
What is the function PVL of in virulence?
An enzyme that alters cation permeability of rabbit and human leukocytes resulting in white cell destruction
What is the function of coagulase in virulence?
It binds to prothrombin catalyzing conversion of fibrinogen to fibrin, which in turn acts to coat bacterial cells with fibrin, rendering them more resistant to opsonization and phagocytosis
What is the function of hemolysis in virulence?
Lyse RBCs and/or act as toxins
α-hemolysin
- Lyses RBCs of several animals
- Dermonecrotic on subcutaneous injection
- Leukocyte toxicity
ß-hemolysin
- Sphingomyelinase, varying lysis of RBCs from different animals due to differences in membrane sphingomyelin content
- Produces “hot-cold” lysis (hemolysis enhanced at low temperature after 35 C incubation)