can you hEAR me now?

Human rhinovirus A-B

Candidia albicans Single-stranded positive sense RNA virus
Fungus
Overview:
Description: • Causative agent of the common cold
•Diploid fungus • Composed of 4 viral proteins: VP1, VP2, VP3 and VP4
•Yeast • Aerosol and direct contact transmission
•Opportunistic agent • Upper respiratory tract infection
•Normal part of the intestinal tract, mouth, and vaginal flora of 80% of individuals
Symptoms: sore throat, runny nose, nasal
Symptoms: ear pain, tenderness and difficultly congestion, sneezing and cough usually
hearing Ear Infections accompanied by muscle aches, fatigue,
•3 main types malaise, headache, muscle weakness,
Relation to Ear Infection: After primary viral • Acute otis media (AOM) – very common; parts of the middle ear and loss of appetite.
Infection, C. albicans is able to travel up the become infected and swollen and fluid is trapped behind the
back of the throat into the ear and cause a eardrum. Relation to Ear Infection: Not directly
secondary fungal infection i.e. ear infection. • Otitis media with effusion (OME) – happens after an ear infection has responsible for an ear infection but puts
resolved but the fluid stays trapped behind the eardrum. patient at risk for superinfection by
• Chronic otitis media with effusion (COME) – occurs when fluid a bacteria or fungus.
remains in the middle ear for an extended period of time even
without an infection.

Ear infections are mainly caused by bacteria and usually occur after a sore
Haemophilus influenzae throat, cold, or upper respiratory infection. If the infection is bacterial, the Human respiratory syncytial virus
Proteobacteria – Gamma same bacteria can travel to the middle ear and will lead to an ear infection. If Singled-stranded negative sense RNA virus
the upper respiratory infection is caused by a virus, bacteria are drawn to the
Description: microbe-friendly environment and cause a secondary infection – leads to fluid Overview:
•Gram negative coccobacillus buildup behind the eardrum. • Belongs to family Paramyxoviridae
•Opportunistic pathogen • Enveloped virion
•Aerobe • Glycoproteins G and F are virally specifis
•Facultative anaerobe • G binds the virus to a host cell
•Found in the upper respiratory tract • F fuses the viral envelope
•Close contact transmission with the host cell’s PM
• Highly contatigious
Symptoms associated with otitis media: irritability, fever, ear pain, nausea and • No vaccine
vomiting, diarrhea, decreased appetite and congestion Symptoms: fever, cough, rhinitis, and nasal congestion

Relation to Ear Infection: Since H. influenzae is an opportunistic pathogen, it Relation to Ear Infection: The RSV virus does not
lives in its host without usually causing disease. However, when an individual is directly cause an ear infection but greatly increases the risk
immunocompromised (due to a viral infection), it gives H. influenzae the for developing a superinfection with bacteria – hence resulting
opportunity to superinfect and hence cause an ear infection. It can also cause eye in an ear infection.
Infections (conjunctivitis) and sinus infections (sinusitis) among many others. Fatima Khalid – Medical Microbiology – Spring 2011