Introducing 

Prezi AI.

Your new presentation assistant.

Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.

Loading…
Transcript

Control

http://www.cdc.gov/bam/diseases/immune/db/meningitis.html

  • For bacterial meningitis, doctors have to "pull out the heavy artillery."
  • Treatment- Meningococcal vaccine helps the body develop antibodies to the sugar that coats the meningococcal bacterium. The vaccine "teaches" the immune system how to break through the bacterium’s "armor." Once the immune system has "cracked the shell, the bacterium is powerless."
  • Use of broad-spectrum antibiotics such as 3rd gen. cephalosporin or vancomycin are effective.
  • Infection can be prevented by vaccinating specific communities of people such as college freshmen, military personnel, and microbiologist that come into contact with the bacteria on a regular basis.
  • Biosafety level 2 provides the appropriate level of caution when handling the bacterium.

Pathogenesis

Symptoms

Virulence factors: polysaccharide capsule and fimbriae that aid the bacteria in attaching to the nasopharynx.

Others: lipopolysaccharides in the cell wall that act as endotoxins.

The bacteria can remain in the nasopharynx for weeks or months without causing illness.

Once it crosses the mucous membrane and enters the bloodstream, it multiplies, doubling every 30 min. WBCs work to engulf the bacteria but they are no match.

Classic symptoms: sudden onset of fever, headaches, stiff neck, photophobia.

Additional symptoms: nausea, vomiting, a rash, and a confused mental state.

Symptoms in newborns and infants may or may not be noticeable. Look at the fontanel (soft spot on forehead) for bulging. Observe if reflexes are abnormal.

Late in the progression symptoms can be seizures or coma, even death.

The Central Nervous System (an infection of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord) and the Circulatory System (Septicemia) are body systems affected by the bacteria.

Ecology, Growth, and Nutrition

Neisseria meningitidis is found in the nose and throat.

About 8 - 10% of humans carry it as normal flora but it usually is harmless because most of us have natural resistance.

It may then be grown on a blood agar or chocolate agar plate.

Grow for 18 - 24 hours. Likes 37 Celsius with 5% CO2 levels in chamber.

It is gram negative, aerobic, fastidious bacterium.

Optimal pH is 7.0

This bacteria targets the weak. High occurrence in children younger than 1 year old. But, meningococcus adds a twist, also striking healthy people who live close together, like college students in dormitories.

Neissera meningitidis (meningococcus)

  • This bacterium causes bacterial meningitis, a swelling of the membranes surrounding your brain and spinal cord.
  • It is a coffee-bean-shaped diplococci.
  • Discovered by Anton Weichsaelbaum, an Austrian pathologist and bacteriologist discovered this bacteria in 1887 in the spinal fluid of a patient.
  • "Meningitis" derives from meninges - the membranous layers and connective tissue that protect the brain and the CNS. The genus "Neisseria" is named after German bacteriologist Albert Neisser. He discovered Neisseria gonorrhea

Meet the Microbe Responsible for Bacterial Meningitis

Learn more about creating dynamic, engaging presentations with Prezi