Cardiovascular and Respiratory System Microbes

Cardiovascular, Lymphatic and Respiratory System Microbes

• Streptococcus mutant (Bacteria): Gram-positive cocci; facultative anaerobe; forms biofilms. Associated with dental caries and infective endocarditis.
• Francisella tularensis (Bacteria): Gram-negative coccobacillus; aerobic; intracellular pathogen. Causes tularemia (rabbit fever). Symptoms include fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes, skin ulcers, and respiratory distress.
• Brucella Abortus (Bacteria): Gram-negative coccobacilli; non-motile; facultative intracellular pathogen. Associated with brucellosis, characterized by recurring fever, night sweats, joint and muscle pain, fatigue, and hepatosplenomegaly.
• Yersinia pestis (Bacteria): Gram-negative bacillus; facultative anaerobe; survives in macrophages. Causes plague. Symptoms include sudden fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes, weakness, septic shock, and respiratory failure.
• Borrelia burgdorferi (Bacteria): Gram-negative spirochete; motile via axial filaments; microaerophilic. Causes Lyme disease, marked by erythema migrans (bullseye rash), fatigue, headache, joint pain, and later potential neurological or cardiac symptoms.
• Plasmodium falciparum (Protozoan): Intracellular parasite; infects red blood cells; transmitted by mosquitoes. Causes malaria. Symptoms include cyclic fever and chills, sweating, headache, fatigue, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting, jaundice, and confusion (severe).
• Toxoplasma gondii (Protozoan): Obligate intracellular parasite; forms tissue cysts. Causes toxoplasmosis, often involving tissue cuts in muscles/brain, and risk of congenital defects in pregnancy
• Trypanosoma cruzi (Protozoan): Flagellated protozoa; obligate intracellular parasite, causes Chagas disease. Symptoms include fever, swelling at injection site, fatigue, rash, and potential chronic cardiomyopathy in later stages.
• Schistosoma spp. (Fluke): Flat, leaf-shaped, dioecious. Causes schistosomiasis, characterized by acute: rash, itchy skin, fever, chills, cough, muscle aches; chronic: Abdominal pain, blood in stool or urine, liver and spleen enlargement.
• Epstein-Barr virus (Virus): DNA virus; member of the Herpesviridae family. Can cause infectious mononucleosis, Burkitt's lymphoma. Symptoms include fever, sore throat, swollen lymph nodes, fatigue, and enlarged spleen.
• Dengue Virus (Virus): RNA virus; four distinct serotypes. Causes Dengue fever. Symptoms include high fever, severe headache, retro-orbital pain, joint and muscle pain, rash, and bleeding (in severe cases).

Additional Information (Filoviruses, Streptococcus pyogenes, Corynebacterium diptheriae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Rhinovirus)

• Filoviruses: Enveloped RNA viruses; filamentous, thread-like, associated with severe hemorrhaging and high mortality from contact with bodily fluids.
• Streptococcus pyogenes (Bacteria): Gram-positive cocci in chains. Causes strep throat, scarlet fever, cellulitis, necrotizing fasciitis, rheumatic fever, and post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis; characterized by sore throat, fever, swollen lymph nodes; scarlet fever involves a red rash and a strawberry tongue.
• Corynebacterium diphtheriae (Bacteria): Gram-positive pleomorphic rods; not spore-forming. Causes diphtheria. Characterized by sore throat, fever, malaise, and pseudomembrane formation in the throat.
• Streptococcus pneumoniae (Bacteria): Gram-positive, lace-shaped diplococci; alpha-hemolytic. Causes otitis media, characterized by ear pain, fever, irritability, hearing difficulty, and fluid buildup in the middle ear.
• Rhinovirus (Virus): Non-enveloped, single-stranded RNA virus. Causes the common cold; symptoms include sneezing, runny nose, nasal congestion, sore throat, cough, and mild fever.