Mycobacterium Avium Complex Research Paper

Progressive lung disease is the predominant cause of illness and death in people with CF. Mucus blocks the airway passages and results in a predisposition toward chronic bacterial infections. Although the genetic defect underlying CF has been characterized, exactly how and why individuals become infected with Pseudomonas is unknown. The lungs of most children with CF become colonized by Pseudomonas aeruginosa before their 10th birthday. Chronic infection with these bacteria reduces an individuals quality of life, causing acute symptoms of cough, sputum production, and inflammation, which causes repeated exacerbations or episodes of intense breathing problems. Eventually leading to scarring and destruction of lung tissue and, ultimately, death. While it is clear that antibiotic therapy directed against these organisms lengthens the life span of individuals with CF, increasing antibiotic resistance develops. Although antibiotics can decrease the frequency and duration of these attacks, the bacterium establishes a permanent residence and can never be completely

Lungs – Mucus plugging, chronic bacterial infections, pronounced inflammatory response, damaged airways leading to respiratory insufficiency, progressive decline in pulmonary function.

Many people take breathing for granted, some never give it a second thought until a problem presents itself. Respiratory diseases affect millions of Americans as well as people from all over the world. Anyone can suffer from these disorders to include men, women, and children, with conditions ranging from mild, moderate, to chronic in nature. This paper will focus on one of the many respiratory disease called mycobacterium tuberculosis; more commonly referred to as TB.

Early infection with P. aeruginosa resembles acute non-CF infections within the airways, however the bacterium can evolve genotypically and phenotypically during infection, and adapt to its human host1. Adaptive mutations resulting in loss of motility and acquired antibiotic resistance support a sessile lifestyle that is associated with persistent infection within the CF lungs9, 12. Chronic infection is characterized by immunity-mediated inflammation from increased recruitment of polymorphonuclear leukocytes to the lungs2. Furthermore, P. aeruginosa utilizes an assortment of virulence factors such as proteases, exotoxin A, and phospholipases to destroy host tissue, by which the symptoms of CF patients are

This paper explores Pneumonia and the respiratory disease process associated with bacterial and viral pathogens most commonly located in the lung. The paper examines the process, symptoms and treatments most commonly viewed in patient cases of Pneumonia. My goal is to educate the reader and to warn of the

Respiratory disorder, mostly affect the upper or lower respiratory tract, however bacterial or viral infection are the causative agent and the disease is common in all ages. In addition, the lungs and the bronchi can also be affected, causing inflammation and obstruction of the airflow resulting in wheezing, chest tightness, stridor, low grade fever, cough, and hemoptysis due severe damage to the lung tissues. Most common diseases of the respiratory system include; pneumonia, croup, asthma, bronchitis, laryngitis, and tuberculosis, affected disease location determines the signs and symptoms. Hereditary and environmental factors such as allergens and other irritants can be a contributory factor, especially in children. However, respiratory compromise occur as a result of incomplete airway development among this vulnerable population predisposing them to chronic asthma (Huether & McCance, 2012).

Allen here to speak to you about the most common diseases we see here in the Pediatric Pulmonary Department. I will start by telling you what they are and I am sure you have heard them before. First there is Acute Bronchiolitis (inflammation of the bronchioles). Acute Bronchiolitis is usually accompanied by tachypnea (rapid breathing), chest retraction (sinking in of soft tissues of the chest), and wheezing (whistling or rattling sound on the chest). Next is Tuberculosis (bacterial infection spread through lymph nodes and blood stream into other part of the body). TB is very contagious due to the fact it is airborne. Children are most susceptible to this disease. They can get it by being in contact with someone who has active TB. This disease is very fatal to children as it can result in death. The bad thing about TB is that it can not be detected and it can sometimes lay dormant in the system and never be active, so sometimes we wont ever know if a child has it until they appear sick and get tested for the disease. The last condition we will discuss is Sleep Apnea (interruptions of breathing while sleep). Sleep Apnea occurs when the muscles in the mouth and your tongue relax to the point of blocking your air way, sometimes it causes you to make noise like snoring and other times and blocks your breathing completely to where you can not

Lung infections are caused mostly by bacteria, are a serious and chronic problem for many people living with the disease. Limiting contact with germs is a top concern for people with CF. The buildup of mucus in the pancreas can stop the person from getting there food and key nutrients, resulting in malnutrition and poor growth. In the liver, the thick mucus can block the bile duct, causing liver disease. In men, CF can also affect the ability for them to have children.

In the early stages of NSCLC, most people have chest pain. It may be hard to breathe. A cough that lingers is the first sign of a serious problem. If the coughing does not stop after a week, a doctor may recommend a chest x-ray. Shortness of breath can also be a sign of a serious issue. Some people lose weight and have unexplained hoarseness. When the illness spreads to the bones, some people have back pain and headaches.

In the respiratory system, the mucus causes breathing difficulties, frequent respiratory infections and eventually permanent lung damage. The mucus builds up providing bacteria with a place to flourish. The most common infection comes from a bacterium called Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The body's response to P. aeruginosa includes inflammation, which causes episodes of intense breathing problems (Pseudomonas Genome Project, 1998). Normally the body will get rid of excess mucus by coughing before it's a problem but with the thick mucus involved in CF the body has a harder time to get rid of the thicker mucus. Lung disease is the usual cause of death in most patients (National Institutes of Health, 1995). In the digestive system, mucus can block the supply of enzymes used to break down food. The result of the blockage of such enzymes is malnutrition. The patient will have an excessive appetite but will not experience any weight gain. What is also evident is a failure to grow, CF was often misdiagnosed vaguely as "failure to thrive" when physicians didn't know the reason for this poor growth. Sweating is also a problem in people with CF. One of the basic defects in CF is the faulty transport of sodium and chloride (salt). People with CF lose excessive amounts of salt when they sweat. This causes the natural balance of salt in the body to be off balance, which may cause abnormal heart rhythms (National Institutes of Health, 1995).

Pneumonia is an inflammation of the lung which results into an excess of fluid or pus accumulating into the alveoli of the lung. Pneumonia impairs gas exchange which leads to hypoxemia and is acquire by inhaling a contagious organism or an irritating agent. (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2013). Fungal, bacteria and viruses are the most common organisms that can be inhale. Pneumonia could be community-acquired or health care associated. Community –acquired pneumonia (CAP) occurs out of a healthcare facility while health care associated pneumonia (HAP) is acquired in a healthcare facility. HAP are more resistant to antibiotic and patients on ventilators and those receiving kidney dialysis have a higher risk factor. Infants, children and the elderly also have a higher risk of acquiring pneumonia due to their immune system inability to fight the virus. Pneumonia can also be classified as aspiration pneumonia if it arises by inhaling saliva, vomit, food or drink into the lungs. Patients with abnormal gag reflex, dysphagia, brain injury, and are abusing drug or alcohol have a higher risk of aspiration pneumonia (Mayo Clinic, 2013). In the case of patient E.O., this patient had rhonchi in the lower lobe and the upper lobe sound was coarse and diminished. Signs and symptoms of pneumonia include difficulty breathing, chest pain, wheezing, fever, headache, chills, cough, confusion, pain in muscle or

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a pathogen, which its physiology is directly linked to features of tuberculosis that it causes. The crucial feature for a mycobacteria’s survival is its unique cell wall structure. The insoluble cell wall core of MTB is formed by a large variety of lipid-containing molecules, such as mycolic acid, that are covalently attached (6). This hydrophobic cell wall provides a physical protection from the host immune response and serves as a barrier against many toxic insults (2). Further, the complex MTB cell wall is impermeable to both hydrophobic and hydrophilic molecules, resulting in inherent resistance of MTB to most common antibiotics (8). Lipoarabinomannan is an antigen on the outside of the organism. This antigen is another important component of the cell wall because it inhibit the fusion of Mycobacterium-containing phagosomes with lysosomal compartments (4). Lipoarabinomannan hinders the fusion of phagosome with lysosome by impairing Ca2+/calmodulin pathway and inactivates macrophages (8). Therefore, this cell-surface component of MTB is able to facilitate the survival of mycrobacteria within macrophages (8). Also, MTB is able to survive the harsh environment of the host tissues by utilizing any available

Mrs. A (pseudonym) is an 83-year-old Samoan female of Christian religion who was admitted to an urban hospital on 02/04/15 by GP referral. She came in with chest pain associated with productive cough and shortness of breath (SOB) on exertion. She also complained of having recurrent episodes of vomiting mixed with saliva and fatigue. She has a history of asthma, hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus on Metformin and double incontinence due to a long-standing history of intermittent constipation. Her chest computed tomographic (CT) revealed right lower lobe opacity indicating pulmonary consolidation, which means that her right lower lung has accumulated exudates in the alveoli that would have normally been filled by gas, indicative of bacterial pneumonia. Furthermore, a sputum gram stain sample collected from Mrs. A showed gram-positive bacteria, which is also a characteristic of pneumonia. Her blood tests revealed a high haemoglobin count, which may be caused by an underlying lung disease, as well as high white blood cell count confirming the presence of infection. Considering all diagnostic results, Mrs. A was diagnosed with right lower lobe bacterial pneumonia.

In many cases, Mycobacterium tuberculosis usually develops because of inconsistent consumptions of drugs. Most of the time, most people don’t even know they are infected until symptoms occur because this pathogen is easily transmitted through air exchange (Medline Library, 2005). Although this pathogen usually remains inactive even when it is in the immune system, it becomes

M. pneumoniae is generally referred to as primary atypical or walking pneumonia because the symptoms are not as sever as pneumonia. The symptoms include a dry hacking cough, fever, and headache. The symptoms will last for about 2 to 3 weeks. M. pneumoniae affects people worldwide. Typically only 33 % of people who have M. pneumoniae will get atypical pneumonia. The majority, 77 %, will come down with an upper tract infection (tracheaobronchitis). (Pulmonary Disorders pg 609) M. pneumoniae is transmitted through aerosol droplets. The bacterium is capable of infecting anyone at any time but it has a pattern of coming in the fall and winter and causing an outbreak every 4 to 8 years, although more tight communities occur more frequently. The pathogen rarely occurs on children less than 4 years of age. Since the bacterium lacks a cell wall, B-lactums are futile against them. The body’s immune system is responsible for killing the pathogen. There were 2 million cases in the US with 100,000 requiring hospitalization. The mortality rate is very low with only occasional fatalities among the elderly and sickle cell anemia persons. ( ).