Bacterial Pathogens (Bad Bacteria)

• Athanasius Kircher


  Investigated the blood of plague (bubonic) and noted the presence of "little worms" or "animalcules" in the blood, cause bacteria
• Agostino Bassi


  Discovered that the muscardine disease of silkworms was caused by a living, very small, parasitic organism
• Nicolas Andry


  Discovered microorganisms called "worms" were responsible for smallpox and other diseases
• Richard Bradley


  Theorized that the plague and 'all pestilential distempers' were caused by 'poisonous insects'
• Streptococcus mutans


  Facultatively anaerobic, gram-positive coccus commonly found in the human oral cavity and is a significant contributor to tooth decay
• Streptococcus mutans causes tooth decay
• Streptococcus mutans bacteria lives in the mouth
• Streptococcus mutans destroys enamel
• Streptococcus mutans causes toothache/loss
• Oral hygiene is important for Streptococcus mutans
• Treatment for Streptococcus mutans: Area removed and filled
• Escherichia coli (E. coli)


  Coliform bacterium of the genus Escherichia that is commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms
• E. coli strain O157:H7 produces a toxin known as Shiga and can cause an intestinal infection
• Most types of E. coli are harmless and even help keep your digestive tract healthy
• E. coli transmission and pathology

  Fecal-oral; Normal flora of human colon; UTI (most common cause)
• E. coli is treated with quinolones and is self-limiting
• Prevention of E. coli: Handwashing, remove urinary catheters, water and food handling
• Group A beta-hemolytic Streptococcus

  Causes strep throat
• Symptoms of strep throat: fever, sore throat, swollen neck glands
• Strep throat is treated with antibiotics: Penicillin
• Mycobacterium tuberculosis


  Bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB) in humans
• Symptoms of tuberculosis: fatigue, fever, night sweats, cough, weight loss, chest pains, hemoptysis
• Tuberculosis is transmitted through droplets
• Tuberculosis is treated with a 4-drug regimen: isoniazid, rifampin, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol or streptomycin
• Leprosy


  Infectious disease that causes severe, disfiguring skin sores and nerve damage
• Leprosy is caused by Mycobacterium leprae or M. lepromatosis, also known as Hansen's disease
• Symptoms of leprosy: disfiguring skin sores, lumps, or bumps that do not go away after several weeks or months. The skin sores are pale-colored.
• Leprosy is transmitted through droplets from nasal and other secretions from patients with untreated M. leprae infection
• Leprosy is diagnosed through skin biopsy and skin smear test
• Leprosy is treated with dapsone with rifampicin, and clofazimine
• Prevention of leprosy: Exclude people with leprosy from childcare, preschool, school and work until approved to return, and rapidly eliminate infectivity using multi-drug therapy
• Travellers to areas where leprosy is present have a very low risk of contracting the disease
• Whooping cough (pertussis)


  Highly contagious respiratory tract infection marked by a severe hacking cough followed by a high-pitched intake of breath that sounds like "whoop"
• Whooping cough is caused by Bordetella pertussis
• Symptoms of whooping cough: Runny nose, Nasal congestion, Red watery eyes, Fever, Cough
• Whooping cough is diagnosed through swab inside nose and/or throat, blood test and chest x-ray
• Whooping cough is treated with Erythromycin for 2 weeks
• Prevention of whooping cough: DTaP vaccine
• Clostridium tetani


  Motile, anaerobic, spore forming bacteria (terminal spores with drum stick appearance) that causes tetanus
• Symptoms of tetanus: stiff jaw, muscle spasms, paralysis, lock jaw