Spirochetes

Spirochetes

The name spirochete is derived from the

Greek words for "coiled hair.
Large heterogonous group, motile organisms
Most are free living and non pathogenic but
some pathogenic
Have unique helical structure
Cell wall similar to gram negative bacteria
Have axial flagella for motility
Are refractive
Borrelia, Leptospira and Treponema are
among the important once

Genus Treponema

Gram-negative, thin,
motile, spiral shaped

pathogenic and NP types

non stained
non cultivable in vitro
Human pathogens cause
treponematoses : are
T. pallidum venereal syphilis

 Syphilis
Syphilis, a chronic systemic infection
caused by Treponema pallidum
subspecies pallidum
usually sexually transmitted
pass through the placenta to infect the
fetus(congenital Syphilis) .
Approximately 50 percent of fetuses are
aborted or stillborn; the rest exhibit
diverse syphilitic stigmata

Clinical Manifestations
Primary syphilis
multiplication of treponemes at the site of entry
produces erythematous and induration.
a hard chancre formation ( painless ) .
H. ducreyi causes soft chancre(painful.)
Numerous treponemes are present highly
contagious, open lesion.
After 2 to 6 weeks of symptoms, this primary lesion
heals, leaving only remnants of scar tissue.

 Secondary syphilis
After an asymptomatic 2 to 24 weeks,
Organisms multiply in many different
tissues. .
All of these lesions be loaded with
treponemes and are highly contagious.
Both primary and secondary syphilis
are contagious

 Tertiary syphilis
Small proportion of cases progress to
tertiary stage of syphilis after a latent
period.

can affect almost any tissue.

Nearly 80 percent of fatalities are
caused by cardio vascular
involvement
20 percent are from neurologic

Venereal syphilis

Primary syphilis with

a firm, nontender
chancre

Secondary
syphilis
commonly
affects the
palms and
soles with
scaling, firm, redbrown papules.

Secondary
syphilis
demonstrating
the
papulosquamous
truncal eruption.
9

Venereal syphilis

Condylomata lata are

moist, somewhat
verrucous intertriginous
plaques seen in
secondary syphilis.

Mucous patches on
the tongue of a
patient with
secondary syphilis.

10

Laboratory diagnosis
T. pallidum cannot be grown in vitro,
laboratory diagnosis hinges on
microscopy and serology.

 Serologic
are mostly used that include:
Non specific ( nonTreponemal ) tests
measure antibodies directed against lipid
antigens (cardiolipin)--- derived from host
tissues
Ex. VDRL and RPR tests
More sensitive, rapid, simple but non specific,
malaria, leprosy, auto immune ds, measles
infection may give false positive results

 Treponemal tests
which detect antibodies directed against
protein constituents of T. pallidum
.example
Fluorescent T pallidum AntibodyAbsorption (FTA-ABS)
Micro hemagglutinationT.pallidum
(MHA-Tp)
T.P immobilization test

Venereal syphilis
Treatment

Penicillin
tetracycline or doxycycline if allergic for penicillin
Patients with other STDs should be screened for

syphilis
Congenital
women are

syphilis

is

completely

preventable

if

Screened serologically early in pregnancy ( 3

months)

Those who are positive are treated with penicillin.

Methods to block direct mucosal contact (condoms)
14

Genus Rickettsia
General characterstics
Small, structurally similar to Gramnegative bacilli
obligate intracellular parasites of
eukaryotic cells
found in ticks, lice, fleas, mites,
chiggers, and mammals
Grow readily in yolk sacs of
embryonated eggs or cell culture
15

16

Rickettsiae
Most Rickettsiae survive only for short times
outside of the vector or host
quickly destroyed by heat, drying, and
bactericidal chemicals
Rickettsia species cause
- Epidemic typhus - R.prowazekii
- Murine typhus - R.typhi
- Scrub typhus - R.tsutsugmushi
Rocky Mountain spotted fever - R.ricketsii

17

Epidemic Typhus (louse-borne)

Due to infection with R. prowazekii

Transmitted by the human body louse (Pediculus
humanus corporis)
Lives on clothes
found in poor hygienic conditions
usually in cold areas
Lice acquire R. prowazekii when they ingest a blood
meal from a rickettsemic patient
multiply in the mid gut
epithelial cells of the
louse
spill over into the
louse feces

louse defecates
during its blood
meal

patient auto inoculates the

organisms by scratching

The louse does not pass R. prowazekii

18

Rickettsia
Diagnosis
Rickettsioses are difficult to diagnose both
clinically and in the laboratory
Cultivation requires viable eukaryotic host
cells, such as antibiotic-free cell cultures,
embryonated eggs, and susceptible
animals.

19

Treatment and Prevention

broad-spectrum antibiotics, doxycycline,
tetracycline, and chloramphenicol
Prevention of exposure to infected
arthropods offers some protection.
Prevention is based on reducing
exposure to the vector (e.g. louses)

20

Genus Chlamydiae
Chlamydiae are obligate intracellular
bacteria
lack several metabolic and biosynthetic
pathways ( depend on the host cell for
intermediates, including ATP)
Lack Peptidoglycan layer
Chlamydiae consist of three species,
C.trachomatis, C.psittaci, and21

Medically important chlamydiaceae

22

Chlamydia trachomatis
C. trachomatis is found only in humans.
causes the following diseases:
Trachoma, a chronic follicular keratoconjunctivitis.
Inclusion conjunctivitis in newborn children
Nonspecific urogenital infections in both men and
women (urethritis, cervicitis, salpingitis)
Lymphogranuloma venereum, a venereal
disease observed mainly in countries with warm
climates.

 C. pneumoniae
responsible for infections of the upper
respiratory tract
mild form of pneumonia

Trachoma

Figure 5 Chlamydial conjunctivitis is the

commonest form of neonatal conjunctivitis

25

Trachoma

Epidemiology
> 400 million people throughout the world
have trachoma ( 20 million are blinded by
it )
Most prevalent in
hygienic
Africa
conditions are
poor and
Asia
water is
The Mediterranean basin
scarce
childhood infection may be universal,
and severe blinding disease is common
26

Genital Infections

Figure 4 Lymphogranuloma venereum. Bilateral

enlargement of inguinal glands
27

Treatment of chlamydial infections

Tetracycline, erythromycin, rifampin,

sulfonamides, chloramphenicol

Azithromycin is effective and can be

given to pregnant women

28

End for
Sys.Bacteriology

29

30

VIRAL
INFECTIONS
31

Introduction
A. Definition
Viruses
-are acellular, small obligate intracellular parasites
contain either RNA or DNA genome surrounded by
a protective, virus-coded protein coat(capsid).
lack both cellular structure and independent
metabolic processes
replicate only by using living cells based on the
information in the viral genome
Viruses can infect bacteria (so-called
bacteriophages), plants, animals, and humans.
32

Introduction
B. Classification
The following morphological and biochemical criteria are used for
taxonomic classification
Genome: DNA or RNA genome

DNA- double stranded (ds): linear or circular

Single stranded (ss) : linear or circular
RNA- ss : segmented or non-segmented
ss:polarity+(sense) or polarity (non-sense)
ds : linear (only reovirus family)
Capsid symmetry: Icosahedral , helical, or complex symmetry
Presence or absence of an envelope

33

General characteristics of
Viruses

Viruses differ widely from other microorganisms

in a number of characteristics:
have no cellular structure, consisting only of
proteins and nucleic acid (DNA or RNA)
have no metabolic systems of their own
depend on the synthetic mechanism of a
living host cell
use normal cellular metabolism by
delivering their own genetic information into
the host cell
34

General characteristics of Viruses

Different virus species are shown here inside an E.
coli bacterium

35

General structure of Viruses

36

General structure of Viruses

Fig Virus Particle Structure

37

Capsid
A protein shell surrounding the genome
Serves to protect the viral genome
(Nucleocapsid) and introduce the viral genome
into host cells
The shape of the capsid may be
Icosahedral symmetry
Helical symmetry
Complex symmetry

38

General structure of Viruses

Icosahedral
Complex
(spherical)
consists of
subunits
called
capsomer
s

Helical

(rod shaped
or coiled)
consists of
repeated
units called
protomers

Irregular
shape
(neither
helical nor
polyhedral)

39

 Functions of capsid
A. Protect the viral nucleic acid.
B. Participate in the viral infection.
C . Share the antigenicity

40

Envelope
A lipid-containing membrane that surrounds some viral
particles.
It is acquired during viral maturation by a budding process
through a cellular membrane,
Viruses-encoded glycoproteins are exposed on the surface of
the envelope.
Not all viruses have the envelope, and viruses can be
divided into 2 kinds: enveloped virus and naked virus.

41

Envelo
pe

42

Replication of Viruses
Steps in viral replication

1. Adsorption: attachment of the virus to the

host cell surface
2. Penetration: entry of the virus into the host
cell

Enveloped viruses: by fusing with

plasma membrane or endocytosis

Non-enveloped: direct penetration

3. Uncoating: physical separation of viral NA

from the outer structural components
43

Replication of Viruses
Steps in viral replication
4. Replication(Biosynthesis)
DNA viruses: nucleus with the exception

of Poxviruses
RNA viruses: cytoplasm with the

exception of Orthomyxoviruses &

Retroviruses
Synthesis of viral proteins in the

cytoplasm

Replication of Viruses

5. Maturation

all the structural components come

together at one site in the cell and the
basic structure of the virus particle is
formed.
6. Assembly
a virus particle becomes infectious;
nucleic acids and capsids are
assembled together.
7. Release
Non-enveloped- through lysis
Enveloped- budding

Replication of Viruses.

46

How Viruses cause diseases

There are several possible consequences of
infection by a virus
Lytic infections
Persistent infections
Latent infections
Transformation
Lytic infections: result in the destruction of the
host cell
- caused by virulent viruses, which inherently
bring about the death of the cells that they infect
Persistent infections :
infections occurring over relatively long
periods of time
47

 Latent infections:
there is a delay between the infection by
the virus and the appearance of
symptoms
appear sporadically as the virus
emerges from latency, usually triggered
by some sort of stress in the host
Transformation:
Some animal viruses have the potential
to change a cell from a normal cell into a
tumor cell (oncogenic viruses)
The vast majority of viral infections in
humans are inapparent or asymptomatic
48

Diagnostic Methods in
Virology
1. Direct Examination
2. Serology
2. Indirect Examination

50