Especially dangerous

infections

PhD Pantyo Valerij

Department of microbiology, virology,
epidemiology with course of infectious diseases
 Objectives
• Cholera. Epidemiology, pathogenesis,
antigenic structure of causative agent;
• Plaque. Clinical forms. Mechanism of
transmission;
• Anthrax. Virulence factors, laboratory
diagnosis.
 Vibrio cholerae
• Family Vibrionaceae: V. cholerae,
V. parahemoliticus, V. vulnificus.
The medically important vibrios
 Culture properties
• It grows better in an alkaline
medium, the range of pH
being 7.4–9.6 (optimum 8.2);
• Selective media: TCBS,
alkaline bile salt agar (BSA),
Monsur’s GTTA medium
 Epidemiology
• Six Pandemics of Cholera occurred between
1817 – 1923;
• The seventh pandemic originated in Celebes
Islands in Indonesia on 1961;
• The 8th pandemic is caused by O 139 V.
cholerae.
Pathogenesis
Treatment
Yersinia pestis
 Virulence factors
• temperature-dependent coagulase activity (20°–28°C,
• the temperature of the flea) and fibrinolytic activity
(35°–37°C, the temperature of the host)
Life cycle
Clinical forms
Bubonic plaque
 Diagnostic laboratory test
• Specimen: blood, aspirates of enlarged lymph
nodes;
• Culture: blood agar, MacConkey agar,
chocolate agar;
• Animal inoculation.
 Treatment
• The drug of choice is streptomycin, but the
more readily available aminoglycoside
gentamicin has been shown to be as effective;
• Doxycycline is an alternative drug as is the
fluoroquinolone antibiotic ciprofloxacin.
Gram positive bacilli
 Bacillus
• B. anthracis;
• B. cereus;
• B. thuringiensis
Culture
 Pathogenicity
• Protective antigen (PA), edema factor (EF),
and lethal factor (LF).
 Clinical features
• Cutaneous anthrax;
• Pulmonary anthrax;
• Intestinal anthrax.
 Laboratory diagnosis
• Ascoli thermoprecipitation
 Epidemiology
• Contact with infected
animals or with their
hides, hair, and bristles
is the source of
infection in humans.
Bioterrorism
 Test 1
6 hours after the initial inoculation of water sample into
1% peptone water, the growth of a culture in form of a thin
pellicle on the medium surface was registered. Such
cultural properties are typical for the causative agent of the
following disease:

A. Dysentery
B. Plague
C. Tuberculosis
D. Cholera
E. Pseudotuberculosis
 Test 2
Quite often, the soil may contain a number of
pathogenic microorganisms. The causative agents
of the following disease may stay viable in the soil
for a long time:

A. Anthrax
B. Diphtheria
C. Viral hepatitis
D. Pertussis
E. Dysentery
 Test 3
A patient presents with fever, chill and
cough. From his sputum the ovoid Gram-
negative bipolar-stained bacilli with a delicate
capsule were isolated. What is the most likely
diagnosis?
A. Brucellosis
B. Tuberculosis
C. Leptospirosis
D. Plague
E. Toxoplasmosis
 Test 4

In a village, a case of anthrax had been

registered. Medical services began
epidemiologically indicated specific prophylaxis of
population against anthrax. What preparation was
used for this purpose?
A. Inactivated vaccine
B. Live vaccine
C. Chemical vaccine
D. Genetically engineered vaccine
E. Anatoxin
 Test 5
The laboratory for especially dangerous infections
conducts microscopic examination of pathological
material from a patient with suspected plague. The sample
was stained by Burri-Gins technique. What property of the
causative agent can be identified by this technique?
A. Capsule formation
B. Spore formation
C. Acid resistance
D. Alkali resistance
E. Presence of volutin granules