NEMATODES &

INFECTIONS OF THE SKIN

GROUP VI
JIMENEZ | JULIE | KAWAGUCHI | LINAO | LAPUT
CHAPTER 15
NEMATODES
 WHAT ARE NEMATODES?
• NEMATHELMINES are unsegmented, bilaterally
symmetrical worms with cylindrical bodies that are
elongated.
• They have a complete digestive tract, including a
mouth and an anus.
• The body covering is called cuticle.
• These parasites have separate sexes, with the female
worm being larger than the male worm.
 CLASSIFICATION OF NEMATODES
INTESTINAL
NEMATODES
• Mainly soil-transmitted.
• Can be transmitted by ingestion of
undercooked or raw infected
fish/pork meat.
• Some are transmitted by ingestion
of the embryonated egg.
• Can also be transmitted by skin
penetration.
TISSUE
NEMATODES
• Most are transmitted by the bite
of the arthropod vectors
(mosquitoes or flies).
• Called “filarial” worms because
they produce motile embryos
called microfilariae in the blood
and tissue fluids.
• Larvae can also be found in
undercooked meat.
 INTESTINAL NEMATODES
• Ascaris lumbricoides (GIANT
ROUNDWORM)
• Largest intestinal roundworms.
• May contribute to malnutrition and lung damage.
• Disease: Ascaris
• Can cause more complications to its host.
• Adult worms pass with the feces.
 INTESTINAL NEMATODES
• Enterobius vermicularis (PINWORM)
• Life cycle is confined to humans.
• Transmitted hand to mouth.
• Many hosts (children) only serve as carriers.
• Allergic reaction to the parasite (Perianal Pruritus).
• Most active at night.
• Diagnosis by scotch tape method or cellophane test.
 INTESTINAL NEMATODES
• Trichuris trichiura (WHIPWORM)
• Ingestion of contaminated food or water.
• Poor sanitation and use of feces as fertilizer.
• May cause abdominal pain, bloody diarrhea and
weight loss.
• Barrel-shaped eggs found in stool.
 INTESTINAL NEMATODES
• Ancylostoma duodenale (OLD WORLD HOOKWORM) & Necator
americanus (NEW WORLD HOOKWORM)
• Penetration of the skin by the filariform larvae (feet or legs).
• Adult worms attach to the walls of the small intestine with
cutting plates (Necator) or teeth (Ancylostoma).
• May cause major blood loss and inflammation in the lungs.
• Penetration produces a pruritic papule or vesicle.
• May cause pneumonia or hypochromic anemia.
• Stools shows the characteristic thin-shelled eggs or blood
 INTESTINAL NEMATODES
• Strongyloides stercoralis (THREADWORM)
• Has 2 distinct life cycles (within the host and soil).
• Cycle begins with skin penetration (similar to
hookworms).
• May cause significant damage in intestinal mucosa,
which may lead to sepsis.
• Disease: Strongyloidiasis (Chochin-China diarrhea).
• Larvae is present in stool.
 INTESTINAL NEMATODES
• Capillaria philippinensis
• First described in the Philippines at 1963.
• Infection by ingestion of undercooked or raw freshwater fish
called bagsit.
• Eggs embryonate in soil or water then ingested by fish.
• Produce micro-ulcers.
• Disease: Intestinal Capillariasis
• Abdominal pain, chronic diarrhea and borborygmus.
• Eggs or mature worms found in feces.
 BLOOD AND TISSUE NEMATODES
• Wuchereria bancrofti (BANCROFT’S FILARIAL
WORM) & Brugia malayi (MALAYAN FILARIAL
WORM)
• Mosquito-borne parasites found in the lymphatics of humans.
• Infection occurs when the female mosquito deposits the larvae
on skin while biting.
• Enter a lymph node and mature in a year, producing
microfilariae that circulate the blood.
• Humans are only definitive hosts.
• Can cause edema due to obstruction of lymphatic vessels.
 BLOOD AND TISSUE NEMATODES
• Wuchereria bancrofti (BANCROFT’S FILARIAL
WORM) & Brugia malayi (MALAYAN FILARIAL
WORM)
• Disease: Filariasis (Elephatiasis)
• Asymptomatic Stage
• Acute Stage (Adenolymphangitis)
• Chronic Stage
• Hydrocele – results from obstruction of the lymphatics of the
tunica vaginalis.
 BLOOD AND TISSUE NEMATODES
• Trichinella spiralis
• Pigs are the most important reservoirs.
• Transmitted by ingestion of raw or undercooked meat containing
larvae encysted in the muscle.
• Humans are end-stage hosts.
• Can be acquired anywhere in the world.
• Disease: Trichinosis
• Enteric Phase
• Invasion Phase
• Convalescent Phase
• May cause congestive heart failure or respiratory paralysis.
• This disease has no treatment.
 EFFECTS OF PLANTS ON NEMATODE
COMMUNITY STRUCTURE
• Plant-related inputs provide the resources for nematode communities. Sampling of
nematode communities must be on appropriate temporal and spatial scales. Size,
feeding types, food or host specificity, and chronology allow over 200 nematode
species to coexist in a district. Relationships between nematode functional groups
and ecological processes regulating decomposition processes have been found in
field experiments. Pulse-labeling experiments have shown root-feeding nematodes to
increase the flow of carbon from roots to soil microbial biomass. Soil texture is
related to suitability for cropping and affects nematode communities through crop-
specific infestations. Nematode diversity tends to be greatest in ecosystems with
least disturbance, and bacterial-feeding nematodes make the greatest contribution to
the decomposer food web in more intensively managed ecosystems. Indices of the
nematode fauna reflect changes in the nematode community; these changes reflect
soil and ecological processes. Understanding the role of nematodes in these
processes is the key to understanding of the relationship between plants and soil
nematode communities.
CHAPTER 16
BACTERIAL SKIN INFECTIONS
 BACTERIAL SKIN INFECTIONS
• Staphylococcus aureus
• Found in the skin and the nasopharynx.
• Produces enzymes and toxins.
• Can be transmitted through direct contact with a person having purulent skin
lesions.
• Clinical Findings
• Folliculitis
• Furuncle
• Carbuncle
• Sty or Hordeolum
• Impetigo
• Ritter’s Disease
 BACTERIAL SKIN INFECTIONS
• Staphylococcus epidermis
• Part of the normal skin flora. Also causes infections in
individuals with prosthetic devices.
• Streptococcus pyogenes
• Produces enzymes and toxins responsible for pathogenesis
of infections caused by S. Pyogenes.
• Infections are acquired through direct contact with an
infected person or fomite.
 BACTERIAL SKIN INFECTIONS
• Streptococcus pyogenes
• Clinical Findings
• Pyoderma (Impetigo)
• Erysipelas (St. Anthony’s Fire)
• Cellulitis
• Necrotizing fasciitis
• Complications may include acute glomerulonephritis and
rheumatic fever.
 OTHER BACTERIAL SPECIES
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa
• Can be transmitted by colonization of previously injured skin.
• Appearance of blue green pus in burn wounds that exudes a sweet grape-
like odour.
• Clostridium perfringens
• Anaerobic and capable of producing endospores. It produces four lethal
toxins (alpha, beta, iota, and epsilon toxins.
• Alpha toxin is the most lethal because it causes massive hemolysis and
bleeding and tissue destruction.
• Can be acquired by colonization of the skin following trauma or surgery.
 OTHER BACTERIAL SPECIES
• Bacillus anthracis
• Characterized by long chains. (bamboo fishing rod/medusa head)
• Inoculation of B. Anthracis through break in the skin from either
the soil or infected animal products.
• Anthrax is a disease of herbivores. The skin infection, cutaneous
anthrax, is the most common form.
 FUNGAL SKIN INFECTIONS
• SUPERFICIAL MYCOSES
• TINEA VERSICOLOR – caused by Malassezia furfur
• TINEA NIGRA – caused by Exophiala werneckii

• CUTANEOUS MYCOSES OR
DERMATOPHYTOSES
• MICROSPORUM – hair and nails only
• TRICHOPHYTON – skin, hair, and nails
• EPIDERMOPHYTON – skin and nails
• The infections are referred to as tinea or ringworm. The names of the
infections reflect the anatomic sites involved.
 FUNGAL SKIN INFECTIONS
• SUBCUTANEOUS MYCOSES
• Involves the deeper layers of the dermis,
subcutaneous tissue, and the bones.
• Transmitted through traumatic inoculation into the
skin.
• Relatively rare.
 VIRAL INFECTIONS
• HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS
• Warts are caused by a DNA virus
• Acquired through direct contact, sexual contact, passage
through infected birth canal, chewing warts.
• Clinical findings
• Skin warts
• Genital and anogenital warts
 VIRAL INFECTIONS
• HERPES SIMPLEX
• Capable of recurrent infections
• Transmitted through oral contact, fomites, sexual contact,
transplacental, and during childbirth.
• Clinical findings
• Gingivostomatis
• Herpes labialis
• Herpetic whitlow
• Eczema herpeticum
• Herpes gladiatorum