Guillain-Barre Syndrome: A Summary

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a human pathogen that is responsible for ulcers and stomach inflammation. The organism had been researched by several scientists around the world since 1875; however none of them was successfully culture it. Until 1982, Dr. Barry Marshall and Dr. Robin Warren succeeded in observing the colonies, and thus became the first scientists to discover this bacterium. By self-testing, Dr. Marshall drank a liquid that contained H. pylori culture. A few days later, he got sick with many symptoms such as vomiting and nausea. After ten days, by undergoing endoscopy, he was able to confirm the role of H. pylori in causing gastritis. Then he and Dr. Warren also demonstrated the effect of

Clostridia: rod-shaped, obligate anaerobes, some form endospores, produce potent toxins that cause a variety of diseases in humans. Important in medicine & industry (Botox & oral plaque). Examples of clostridia include C. tetani (cause tetanus), C. perfringens ( causes gangrene), C. botulinum ( causes botulism) and C. difficle (severe diarrhea). Microbes related to Clostridium include: Epulopiscium - a giant bacterium that can be seen without a microscope; Some clostridia are sulfate-reducing microbes – they produce H2S from elemental sulfur during anaerobic respiration; and Selenomonas – a Vibrio-shaped bacteria, live as part of the biofilm (plaque) on teeth of warm-blooded animals. Selenomonas is unusual because even though it has a typical gram-positive RNA sequence, it has a negative Gram reaction – stains pink.

“Bacterial illness is a result of complex interactions between bacteria and the host. During evolution, humans developed many ways to protect themselves against bacterial pathogens. On the other hand, bacteria have developed strategies to evade, subvert or circumvent these defenses” (Sousa, 2003) “One of the most important characteristics of bacterial pathogenicity is the various strategies developed by prokaryotic organisms to use host molecules for their own benefit” (Sousa, 2003). “To accomplish this, bacteria have evolved elaborate control mechanisms to turn genes on and off, varying the transcriptional activator or

Typhoid fever. One of the types of salmonella bacteria is known as salmonella typhi. Even if salmonella is not originally carried by chickens, infected food handlers might contaminate the food during preparation and an undercooked chicken can absorb the bacteria and spread the disease. Around 21.5 million cases of typhoid fever is recorded worldwide. Symptoms of typhoid fever include a very high fever, weakness, headache, stomach pain, and rash.

C. jejuni is a gram-negative bacterium (Phongsisay V, 2016) as well as being microaerophilic (Kim et al, 2015), nonfermenting and helical shaped (Frirdich et al, 2014). C. jejuni may have either a uni or bi-polar flagella, which contain rods enabling its motility (Baldvinsson et al, 2014). When translated from Greek C. jejuni means ‘curved rod’: campylos (curved) and baktron (rod), named due to its properties.

B. cereus is known as a bacterium that tends to produce toxins in the body. Depending on the type of strain, this bacterium can be

(5) The disease also has a major complication of forming gastric cancers. (2, 5) Although this mechanism is not fully understood it is thought that the bacterium produces free radicals while burrowed into the gastric epithelium which increases host cell mutations leading to cancer. (2)

(HUS) among pathogenic E. coli strains; HUS causes kidney failure and can often prove fatal.

When combined they shortened the duration of therapy to nine months, and when pyrazinamide is added it shortens the duration to six months. When there is resistance to isoniazid during the treatment, ethambutol or streptomycin are used instead. This may extend the duration of the therapy, but it will still be successful. When there is a resistance to isoniazid and rifampicin, the patient is in a critical condition. An extended duration of therapy will be required because the loss in early bactericidal action is significant. Treatment is done in a laboratory so there is an increased amount of laboratory support if there is an issue with the treatment. Patients showing a resistance to both have a significantly lower chance at being cured than the patients showing a resistance to one. The chances of being cured are about fifty percent. A resectional surgery is being performed to enhance the cure rates. It has proven to increase the cure rate; however, it is highly complicated and must be performed very precisely by a highly skilled surgeon. Treatments and medications are being invented every day, and hopefully one day there will be an official way to control

S.aureus is known to produce six various types of enterotoxin serologically (A, B, C, C2, D, and E) that vary in toxicity. Research shows that most strains of S.aurues produce one or two toxins only, while some strains are non-producers. However, food poisoning can be caused by

C. jejuni and C. coli causes gastroenteritidis. Depending on the dosage of the bacterium, the disease can last for 1 to 10 days (MPI, 2001), and cause acute enteritis (abdominal cramps, fever, headache, severe diarrhoea and muscle pain), or acute inflammatory enterocolitis (inflammation of the inner lining of the colon, resulting in bloody stools) (FDA, 2013; MPI, 2001).

After consuming Salmonella, it takes about 8 to 48 hours for symptoms to occur. The symptoms include fever, chills, abdominal pain, nausea, muscle aches and vomiting. Patients may recover on their own typically within a few days. Most people infected typically recuperate in about 5 to 10 days but

The most common foods infected with salmonella include raw meat, poultry, seafood, raw eggs, and fruits and vegetables. These contaminated foods cause symptoms like nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, fever, chills, headaches, and blood in the stool (Mayo Clinic). According to the Mayo Clinic, “These symptoms may last 4 to 7 days, but it will take several months for your bowels to return back to normal after the contamination.” These symptoms are caused by diseases like gastroenteritis, which is when the salmonella reaches your stomach and intestines (Gale Science in Context). Other foods that can be contaminated are foods that are touched by people who didn't wash their hands after using the toilet, handle raw meat or poultry, touch reptiles or birds, changing a diaper, or cleaning up pet feces. These can contaminate the food with feces. The person that does these tasks should wash their hands, which would prevent contaminating the food with

Virulence Factors: The most important virulence factor of S. aureus is the specific surface proteins that allow the organism to attach to host proteins. The surface proteins of this bacterium allow it to attach to host proteins such as laminin and fibronectin, which form the extracellular matrix of epithelial and endothelial cells. S. aureus also produces a number of membrane damaging toxins that allow the organism to further invade and harm the host, of which the alpha- toxin is the most well studied and is the protein responsible for septic shock. The alpha- toxin is a protein that binds to a specific receptor in platelets and monocytes in humans, forming pores that eventually destroy the cell.

Campylobacter jejuni is a pathogenic bacteria that causes abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever, and malaise. It is often found in animal feces. It is also found in poultry that humans eat which means it causes food poisoning which has the symptoms listed above. People will often feel these symptoms from twenty fours hours to around a week, but it could last longer but is very rare to last longer than a week.