Bacterial Diseases

• Bacterial diseases discussed include:
• Rickettsia rickettsii
• Brucella melitensis
• Bordetella pertussis
• Neisseria gonorrhoeae
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa
• Moraxella lacunata
• Legionella pneumophila
• Coxiella burnetii
• Vibrio cholerae
• Escherichia coli
• Salmonella species
• Shigella dysenteriae
• Klebsiella pneumoniae
• Yersinia pestis
• Haemophilus influenzae capsular type b (Hib)
• Campylobacter
• Helicobacter
• Clostridium tetani
• Clostridium botulinum
• Clostridium perfringens
• Clostridium difficile
• Bacillus anthracis
• Staphylococcus aureus
• Streptococcus
• Necrotizing fasciitis
• Enterococcus faecium and faecalis
• Endocarditis
• Listeria monocytogenes
• Mycoplasma pneumonia
• Mycobacterium tuberculosis
• Corynebacterium diphtheriae
• Gardnerella vaginalis
• Chlamydia trachomatis
• Treponema pallindum
• Borrelia burgdorferi

Rickettsia rickettsii

• Causes Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and is in the Disease in Depth section page 566
• Transmitted via tick bite
• Symptoms include rash (on soles and palms), fever, headache, and potential death from kidney and heart failure

Brucella melitensis

• Causes brucellosis or undulate fever
• Transmitted through direct handling of infected animals or unpasteurized milk
• Symptoms include malaise, swollen lymph nodes, fever spikes every evening, and heavy sweating

Bordetella pertussis

• Causes Whooping cough (pertussis)
• Route of transmission is respiratory
• Symptoms involve catarrhal, paroxysmal, and convalescence phases

Neisseria gonorrhoeae

• Causes ophthalmia neonatorum, gonorrhea, and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)
• Transmitted via the birth canal or sexually
• In males, symptoms include painful urination and pus discharge
• Females are typically asymptomatic unless the infection spreads to cause PID
• Refer to Disease at a Glance 24.3 for PID information

Pseudomonas aeruginosa

• Causes dermatitis (skin inflammation), outer ear infections, and infections of burns and cystic fibrosis patients
• Route of transmission involves water sources, direct contact, and nosocomial infections
• It's an opportunistic pathogen that can colonize hair follicles causing a self-limiting rash
• Infected areas may exhibit blue-green pus due to pigment

Moraxella lacunata

• Causes conjunctivitis (pink eye)
• Transmitted via direct contact
• Symptoms involve inflammation of the membrane covering the eye and lining the eyelids

Legionella pneumophila

• Causes Legionnaire's disease or legionellosis
• Transmitted via the respiratory route
• Symptoms: high fever, cough, and general pneumonia symptoms

Coxiella burnetii

• Causes Q fever
• Transmitted by aerosols from animals or contaminated cow's milk
• Symptoms include fever, severe headache, and potential development of hepatitis and endocarditis

Vibrio cholerae

• Causes cholera
• Transmitted via contaminated water or food
• Symptoms include profuse, watery diarrhea, vomiting (fever absent), electrolyte and fluid loss potentially leading to shock and death

Escherichia coli

• Causes urinary tract infection (UTI) and traveler's diarrhea
• Transmitted via the fecal/oral route
• UTI symptoms include frequent painful/burning urination, difficulty voiding the bladder, cloudy foul-smelling urine, blood in urine, abdominal pain, and fever
• Refer to Disease in Depth Pg. 752

Salmonella Species

• Causes salmonellosis
• Transmitted via the fecal/oral route
• Symptoms: nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever from endotoxin, typically 12-36 hours after ingestion
• Often sourced from uncooked eggs and meat products

Shigella dysenteriae

• Causes bacillary dysentery or shigellosis and traveler's diarrhea
• Transmitted via the fecal/oral route
• Symptoms include bloody, mucoid diarrhea, abdominal cramps, fever, intense inflammation, and production of a neurotoxin

Klebsiella pneumoniae

• Causes urinary and respiratory tract infections
• Transmitted by normal flora or direct contact
• Survives well on hands and a major cause of septicemia in children and pneumonia in alcoholics
• Septicemia involves proliferation of bacteria in the blood, accompanied by fever, sometimes organ damage

Yersinia pestis

• Causes bubonic plague and pneumonic plague
• Transmitted via flea bite (bubonic form) or respiratory route (pneumonic form)
• Symptoms include bruising and buboes (enlarged lymph nodes)

Haemophilus influenzae capsular type b (Hib)

• Causes meningitis, earaches, epiglottitis, septic arthritis, bronchitis, and pneumonia
• Transmitted via airborne transmission
• Symptoms begin with headache, light sensitivity, fever, and neck stiffness, potentially leading to convulsions and coma

Campylobacter

• Causes outbreaks of food borne intestinal disease
• Leading cause of food borne illness in U.S.
• Transmitted via food borne sources
• Symptoms include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever (no vomiting)
• Associated with poultry, milk, and water

Helicobacter

• Causes gastritis (inflammation of the stomach) and gastric ulcers
• Route of transmission is unknown
• Symptoms strongly associated with stomach cancer

Clostridium tetani

• Causes tetanus or lockjaw
• Transmitted via puncture wounds
• Symptoms include headaches, fever, irritability, and paralysis of the face and neck

Clostridium botulinum

• Causes botulism
• Transmitted via ingestion of toxin or bacilli
• Symptoms include nausea, no fever, diplopia (double vision), and dysphagia (difficulty swallowing)
• A person affected may die from respiratory and cardiac failure

Clostridium perfringens

• Causes gas gangrene and food poisoning
• Necrosis is the death of tissue
• Gangrene is the loss of blood supply

Clostridium difficile

• Causes antibiotic-associated diarrhea
• Transmitted via normal gut flora or the fecal/oral route
• Thrives under antibiotic selection and is rapidly fatal in compromised hosts

Bacillus anthracis

• Causes anthrax
• Transmitted via the respiratory route or spore entrance through abrasion
• Endospores can survive for 60 years; cattle acquire spores by grazing, humans get disease by handling cow products or respiratory
• Site develops black necrotic pustule followed by septicemia, results in pneumonia

Staphylococcus aureus

• Causes folliculitis (pimples), impetigo in neonates, sty (follicle of lash), boils (furuncle), carbuncles , post operative infections, catheter infections, scalded skin syndrome, and food poisoning
• Transmitted via normal flora and post-operative infections

Streptococcus

• Causes strep throat, ear, sinus and tonsil infections, puerperal sepsis, impetigo in older children and adults, erysipelas, Scarlet fever, and rheumatic fever
• Transmitted via the respiratory route or direct contact

Necrotizing fasciitis

• Flesh-eating bacteria

Enterococcus faecium and faecalis

• Causes urinary tract infection, endocarditis, and post operative infections
• Transmitted via normal flora or nosocomial
• Symptoms: frequent painful/burning urination, difficulty voiding bladder, cloudy foul-smelling urine, blood in urine, abdominal pain, fever

Endocarditis

• Potentially fatal inflammation of the endocardium

Listeria monocytogenes

• Causes listeriosis (meningitis in neonates and immunocompromised)
• Transmitted by food or in utero
• Asymptomatic in healthy people
• Pregnant women advised against eating uncooked foods (dairy)

Mycoplasma pneumonia

• Cause of atypical pneumonia
• Transmitted via the respiratory route
• The causative agent of walking pneumonia

Mycobacterium tuberculosis

• Causes tuberculosis
• Transmitted via respiratory droplet transmission
• Symptoms: weight loss, coughing, rust colored sputum, chest pain, malaise, night sweats

Corynebacterium diphtheriae

• Causes diphtheria
• Transmitted by respiratory aerosol
• Symptoms include sore throat, fever, malaise and swelling of the neck
• Can result in heart, kidney or nerve damage

Gardnerella vaginalis

• Causes vaginitis (inflammation of the vagina)
• Route of Transmission: normal flora in most women or their sexual partners
• Symptoms: sensitive to pH changes, foul odor and discharge

Chlamydia trachomatis

• Disease: trachorna (infection of the conjunctiva of the eye), nongonococcal urethritis, PID and lymphogranuloma venereum
• Route of Transmission: STD or by direct contact
• Most common sexually transmitted disease and leading cause of infertility

Treponema pallindum

• Disease: Syphilis
• Route of Transmission: sexually or congenitally (acquired at birth) transmitted Symptoms: primary, secondary, and tertiary syphilis

Primary Syphilis

• Small hard based chancre (ulceration or sore) for only a few days, painless

Secondary Syphillis

• Wide spread skin rash even on palms, flu-like symptoms, highly infectious

Tertiary Syphilis

• Neurological symptoms, circulatory involvement, and gummas (large lesions)

Borrelia burgdorferi

• Disease: Lyme disease
• Route of Transmission: hard ticks
• Symptoms: characteristic bull's eye skin lesions, fever, headache, myalgia (muscle pain), swelling of lymph nodes, joint pain, fatigue, later neurological and cardiac problems