Name Anais RIvera_________ Date ___9/5/23___________

Dr. Ramos-Voigt
Microbiology

Swaminathan, N. (2007, March 26). “Battling bacteria with a viral protein” Scientific
American

1. Explain how a person can get acute otitis.

Bacteria such as Streptococcus pneumoniae that lies dormant in the nose and throat
travels to the middle of the ear and creates an infection called Acute Otitis.

2. Where are Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria normally found in our body?

Nose and Throat

3. What is the main cause of death during a pandemic of influenza?

Secondary bacterial infections

4. What is lysin? How does a virus use lysin?

Lysin is a protein antibody that viruses use to replicate after it has infected

5. Describe what researchers did with mice. What did they find about infections
caused by S. pneumoniae?
Researchers injected the noses of mice with S. pneumoniae and then infected three with
an influenza virus and the other three with a harmless solution and found that the ones
infected with he influenza virus were more likely to contract a cute otitis. They
performed this experiment again but added lysin to three of the mice and found that the
mice with lysin did not contract a cute otitis.
They found that infections caused by S. pneumoniae have potential to cause diseases so
they found a way to remove it specifically without disturbing the mucus membrane
organisms.

6. What have researchers done with lysin complexes? How can these help people?
They have developed lysin complexes to target bacteria. By making this into a
medicine, it can reduce coldlike symptoms.