Streptococcus pyogenes
Please access the following Center for Disease Control website and answer the questions below:
www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/groupastreptococcal_t.htm The questions are from both the “General Information” and “Technical Information” tabs. 1. Which of the following is not a disease caused by Streptococcus pyogenes? A. Necrotizing fasciitis B. Deep vein thrombosis C. Pneumonia D. Toxic shock syndrome 2. Transmission of Streptococcus pyogenes, or group A streptococcus, occurs via A. Animal to person contact B. Food source to person contact C. Person to person contact D. Vector to person contact 3. A group more likely to contract a disease caused by Streptococcus pyogenes includes: A. those with chronic heart disease or asthma B. intravenous drug users C. children D. all of the above E. B and C only 4. Group A streptococcus is often found A. In the throat B. under the nail C. on the skin D. All of the above E. A and C only
Please access the National Institutes of Health website
www3.niaid.nih.gov/news/newsreleases/2001/strep.htm and answer the following questions. 1. List five diseases/conditions that a group A streptococci infection may lead to: 2. True of False. Bacteriophages may be responsible for toxic shock caused by Streptococcus pyogenes. 3. True or False. Group A streptococci infects humans, animals, mosquitoes. 4. The major cause of heart disease in children of developing countries is: A. pneumonia B. strep throat C. scarlet fever D. rheumatic fever
Please access the website
textbookofbacteriology.net/streptococcus.html and answer the following questions 1. S. pyogenes is a/an A Anaerobe B. facultative aerobe C. Facultative anaerobe D. Aerobe 2. Streptococci have been classified by A. the type of hemolytic reaction on blood agar B. Pathogenicity C. Group-specific antigens D. None of the above E. All of the above 3. What two characteristics allow S. pyogenes to colonize quickly and rapidly multiply? 4. True or False. S. pyogenes does not have a capsule.
Please access the article “Group A Streptococcal Myonecrosis: Increased
Vimentin Expression after Skeletal-Muscle Injury Mediates the Binding of Streptococcus pyogenes.” From ProQuest go to Advance Search, type THE JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES as the publication title and the article name as the document name. 1. True of False. Nearly all Streptococcus pyogenes myonecrosis cases have a known point of entry. 2. Which of the following may be sites of infection of group A streptococci (circle all that apply) A. site of a previous muscle strain B. skin abrasion C. surgical wound D. bruised hand 3. The major skeletal-muscle group A streptococci-binding protein is called ______. 4. If amputation is required to rid a person of a group A streptococci infection, which of the following may present as a complication A. septic shock B. toxic shock
Please access the article “The flesh-eating bacterium: What’s Next?” From
ProQuest go to Advance Search, type THE JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES as the publication title and the article name as the document name. 1. Group A streptococci infections have been presenting themselves since A. the 1600s B. 1736 C. 1900 D. the 1980s 2. More than _______ different M types of Streptococcus pyogenes exist. 3. True or False. Demographically, most sufferers of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (StrepTSS) are immunocompromised, less than 10 years of age, or more than 60 years of age. 4. True or False. Antibiotics have had no effect on Streptococcus pyogenes.
Quiz on Streptococcus pyogenes.
1. True of False. Streptococcal Toxic Shock Syndrome may be described as “the flesh-eating bacteria.” 2. True or False. Treating an infected person with an antibiotic for 12 hours generally eliminates their ability to spread the bacteria. 3. Without a point of entry, group A streptococcus is like to spread from the _________ (pharynx, spine, or rectum) to the site of previous muscle trauma. 4. True of False. An epidemic of Streptococcus pyogenes infections is unlikely, as an epidemic of these infections has not occurred before. 5. True or False. Streptococcus pyogenes can result in both invasive and non invasive infections. 6. Group A streptococcus is often found on the _______ and in the _______. 7. True or False. Streptococcus pyogenes is spore forming. 8. True of False. About 25-35% of individuals harbor the S. pyogenes bacterium without signs of disease. 9. It is ________ (likely/not likely) that items in the house such as books, door knobs, and plates spread the S. pyogenes bacteria. 10. Invasive cases of group A streptococcus are far________ (more/less) common than noninvasive cases.
Bibliography. Website 1. Group A Streptococcal (GAS) Disease. Center for Disease Control. 2005. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/groupasterptococcal_t.htm. Accessed July 22, 2007. 2. Scientists Sequence Genome of Strep Throat, Scarlet Fever Bacterium. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. 2001. Available at: http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/news/newsreleases/2001/strep.htm. Accessed July 22, 2007 3. Todar K. Streptococcus pyogenes. Todar’s Online Textbook of Bacteriology. 2002. Available at http://textbookofbacteriology.net/streptococcus.html. Accessed July 22, 2007. Journal Article on the Internet 1. Bryant AE, Bayer CR, Huntington JD, Stevens DL. Group A streptococcal myonecrosis: increased vimentin expression after skeletal-muscle injury mediates the binding of Streptococcus pyogenes. The Journal of Infectious Diseases [serial online]. 2006;193: 1685-92. Available at http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1062553731&sid=1&Fmt=4&clientId= 12384&RQT=309&VName=PQD. Accessed July 23, 2007 2. Stevens DL. The flesh-eating bacterium: what’s next?. The Journal of Infectious Diseases [serial online]. 1999; 179; Supplement 2 S366-74. Available at http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=803524481&sid=2&Fmt=4&clientId=1 2384&RQT=309&VName=PQD. Accessed July 23, 2007.
Streptococcus pyogenes
July 24, 2007
Streptococcus pyogenes is a bacterium that has been documented as causing human diseases for hundreds of years. Many people may have heard of “the flesh-eating bacteria.” S. pyogenes is responsible, but it also causes so many more diseases, including strep throat, pneumonia, and scarlet fever. It may result in organ system failure, amputation, and death. The rate of infection of S. pyogenes, also called group A streptococcus, in its invasive form has, according to the Center for Disease Control, been stable over the last five years in the United States. Of note, however, is that “resistance to erythromycin has increased worldwide.” No mention is made of penicillin, but this is of concern as S. pyogenes can cause so many diseases, from minor to major. Group A streptococcus is particularly pathogenic and dangerous because of its ability to essential mimic molecules of in the body, such as collagen of connective tissue. According to textbookofbiology.net, the bacterium can “hide its own antigens and go unrecognized as antigenic by its host.” It can also resist phagocytosis. S. pyogenes normally infects through mucus of the nose or throat, or through contact with infected wounds or sores on the skin. However, according to the article “Group A Streptococcal Myonecrosis,” later explored in this tutorial, infections may even occur at previous sites of muscle injury where no breaking of the skin occurred, such as a muscle strain. Streptococcus pyogenes is very broad in the diseases it may cause and in the ways it may be spread and contracted. Certain groups are more at risk than others, but it is a bacterium that can affect virtually every person on the planet.