Out And About!

	PROFILE
	Name: Rhinovirus
	Niche: typically nasopharynx, but can be found in the lower respiratory tract in immunocomprimised patients
	Cellular Morphology:
	Mode of acquisition: contact with infected persons respiratory or nasal secretions
	Special Features: can live on inanimate objects for up to 4 days
Rhinovirus

                  Hi there, my name is rhinovirus. Don't try to identify me specifically by my name because there are over 100 different subtypes that go by rhinovirus as well. I'm surprised you don't already know me considering I infect you about every year or so. You usually refer to me as the "common cold," grouping me in with other viruses that I'm not even related to but that cause the same symptoms. I'm a member of the Picornaviridae family; you might be more familiar with one of my relatives hepadnavirus, better known as Hepatitis A. However, my symptoms are completely different. I usually only cause mild symptoms like sore throat, stuffy nose, sneezing, and occasionally a cough or just a headache one to two days after I settle in. Besides you can't blame me for these symptoms because it is your immune system responding to my presence that is giving you discomfort, so you can blame your interlukin-8, kinins, and prostaglandins for your suffering. In fact, sometimes you are infected with me and don't even know it. I don't understand why your immune system overreacts, after all I typically only infect a few cells on the surface of the epithelium. I'm not that greedy. I rarely spread beyond the nose or nasopharynx because I like it where it is warm, but not too warm, humid, and where it's not too acidic. I obstruct your passageways and make your mucus abnormal making it easier for my bacterial infectious friends to join me. After I leave, you make antibodies that are long-lasting to ensure that I do not return. I typically stay for seven to eleven days before your immune system kicks me out. This is why I love people who smoke or are immunocomprimised because they usually let me stay a little longer. And who could forget the children. If it wasn't for them it would make it a lot more difficult for me to get around. They can share me with others for up to 3 weeks spreading me to their family, their friends at the nursery, and possibly you. So touch your eyes and nose frequently after opening public doors and shaking someone's hand who has just sneezed in it so we can meet again sometime soon.

References:

Murray MD, Clinton and Duane R. Hospenthal MD, PhD. Rhinoviruses. E medicine. http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic2030.htm

Wales, Jimmy and Larry Sanger. Rhinovirus. Wikipedia Encyclopedia. <http://www.En.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinovirus

	PROFILE
	Name: Epstein-Barr Virus
	Niche: lives within nasopharyngeal cells and B lymphocytes
	Cellular Morphology: Virus (double stranded DNA)
	Mode of acquisition: Intimate contact with oral or nasal secretions, occasionally blood transfusions
	Special Features: I can infect humans and other primates
Epstein-Barr Virus

           I am a man of many names. Some call me Mononucleosis, mono for short, some know me as Epstein-Barr Virus, EBV for short, or some call me by my true name as Human Herpes Virus 4, or HHV-4, call me what you like. I used to be known strictly as Mono, until Epstein and Barr discovered me. Since I am a virus I was too small to be seen by older microscopes.

            I am one of the most common human viruses. About 95% of Americans will have been infected with me by adulthood.  I am in the same family as the Herpes simplex virus and Cytomeglalovirus. Typically I do not cause symptoms in children, but when I infect teens or adults I form a classic tetrad of symptoms: fatigue, fever, pharyngitis, and swollen lymph nodes. Half of the time your spleen will swell, and your liver enzyme levels will rise. Most of the symptoms will resolve within the first two weeks; however it may take you one to two months to get back to yourself and to resume normal activities because of fatigue and special precautions if your spleen enlarges. Lucky for you I am rarely fatal and am not known to cause problems during pregnancies. Rarely, I cause complications with the central nervous system, blood, lungs, or liver.

            Since I am a virus there is no cure, and I will stay with you for the rest of you life lying dormant in your throat and B lymphocytes in your blood. Reactivation is suppressed by T lymphocytes, but can still happen and typically does not cause you any symptoms. I am usually transferred during reactivation. An uninfected person may come in direct contact with nasal or oral secretions through kissing someone that I have reactivated myself within, and become infected. This is why I have been dubbed the "kissing disease." It typically takes you a month or more to develop symptoms that you have been infected with me. Other microbes can cause similar symptoms so serological tests must be performed to determine that I am in fact the culprit. Most physicians use a monospot test, which is most effective in identifying my presence during the second or third week from when I first cause you symptoms.

            I was the first virus identified as an oncovirus (associated with the development of cancer). There are two cancers that I have been linked to: African Burkitt's lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. African Burkitt's lymphoma is characterized by abnormal growth of B lymphocytes, whereas nasopharyngeal carcinoma is the growth of abnormal epithelial cells. Researchers think I transform and stimulate B lymphocytes making them prone to mutations and cause them to multiply faster than usual.

References:

Center for Disease Control. Epstein-Barr Virus and Infectious Mononucleosis. National Center for Infectious Diseases. <http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/ebv.htm>

Merck Manual. Viral Infections. Sec. 19, Ch. 265, Childhood Infections. <http://www. merck.com/mrkshared/mmanual/section19/chapter265/265b.jsp>

Wales, Jimmy and Larry Sanger. Epstein-Barr Virus. Wikipedia Encyclopedia.   <http://www.enwikipedia.org/wiki/Epstein-Barr_virus>

	PROFILE
	Name: Tinea Pedis (Athlete's Foot)
	Niche: On the skin, warm and moist places
	Cellular Morphology: Pathenogenic Mold- dermatophytes
	Interesting fact: athlete's foot only spread outside the tropics when international travel became commonplace about 100 years ago.
	Special Features: Can spread to other parts of the body, not just the feet.
Tinea Pedis

Hello, my name is Tenia pedis, but all my friends call me Athlete’s foot.  I am a fungal infection of the foot caused by parasites on human skin called dermatophytes.  I am usually cause by anthropophile fungi. The most common species are Microsporum, Epidermophyton and Trichophyton. Some version of me or other microbes like myself is on the surface of all humans. My friends and I feed on dead skin cells and are usually harmless.

I am a common condition in young people and adults. We fungi love warm, moist places.  This typically equates that we are primarily a problem for people who wear tight-fitting trainers or don't dry their feet properly.

What is really cool, is that I am contagious!  This allows for me to meet a lot of new and interesting people, and also to get out an experience the world around me (I must admit, I love having a social life!).  I can be spread by direct skin-to-skin contact and indirectly through towels, shoes, floors, shower stalls, and other things of the like. 

The most common case of my infection includes  a red itchy rash in the spaces between the toes (often between the 4th and 5th toes initially) and possibly small pustules.  There also is often a small degree of scaling. My wonderful infection has the superpower of spreading to the rest of the foot and other parts of the body. 

More rare cases consist of infection of the soles of both feet by Trichophyton rubrum. What is cool about this is that he skin reddens and its furrows become marked, resembling chalked lines. If my condition is not treated, a similar rash may appear on one or both palms. After a while, the beautiful rash becomes scaly, resembling eczema.

The people most at risk for a visit of my outbreak would be Young people, especially if they wear trainers., athletes, and people who are forced to wear tight-fitting rubber footwear because of their job.

If for some reason, you would like to avoid my presence,  wash the feet every day and allow them to dry properly before putting on shoes and socks. You should use a separate towel to dry your feet. To avoid passing the infection on you should not share these towels with anyone else.  Wear socks made of cotton or wool, and change them at least twice a day or when they have become damp.  Avoid wearing shoes which are made of synthetic materials. Wear sandals or leather shoes instead. Powder the feet and the inside of the shoes with an antifungal powder (I really hate this, as it tends to kill me!).

I am usually treated locally with antifungal creams, sprays, liquids and powders that are available from pharmacists without a prescription.

References:

The American College of Foot & Ankle Orthopedics & Medicine , Athlete’s Foot.  (http://64.176.45.146/athletes.shtml) Accessed November 2004.

Foot Health Foundation of America, Athlete’s Foot.  (http://www.foothealthfdn.org/athletesfoot.htm) Accessed November 2004.

	PROFILE
	Name: Streptococcus pneumoniae
	Niche: Nasopharynx or aerotolerant environment with catalase to neutralize H2O2 produced
	Cellular Morphology: typically lancet-shaped diplococci, but may occur alone or in short chains
	Gram Stain Reaction: Gram Positive
	Special Features:  There is a vaccine that protects against 23 strains
Streptococcus pneumoniae	Mode of acquisition: contact with nasal or oral secretions

               Hello. My name is Streptococcus pneumoniae. I am an occasional member of your flora that is affecting about 40% of you right now. There are 90 serotypes of me which are identified based on the capsular coat. Not all of us are capsulated, but for those of us who are, we can cause a lot more damage. My capsule protects me from phagocytosis by your immune system. There are four strains of me that are particularly nasty: 6B, 14, 19, 23F all of which are antibiotic resistant.  I am an aerotolerant anaerobe and thrive via fermentation. This means that I prefer to grow in an environment without O₂. I am gram positive; therefore I have a thick six layer peptidoglycan cell wall. My wall also contains teichoic acid and lipoteichoic acid with phosphorylcholine attached which allows me to attach to your cells and bind "choline-binding proteins" which help me function.

             On agar I've been told I form "glistening colonies" which can appear transparent or opaque. You ask why the two possibilities? The reason for this is simple; it has to do with the surface proteins that I am expressing at the moment. The transparent colonies invade your nasopharnx more effectively and the opaque colonies occupy your blood. If plated on blood agar I form alpha hemolysis. When plated I require catalase in the growth media that can neutralize the H₂O₂ (hydrogen peroxide) that I produce.

            I typically reside in your nasopharynx, however I can spread to different areas. When I do this it usually solicits an immune response. I can cause pneumonia in your lungs, otitis media in your middle ear, sinusitis in your nasopharynx, bacteremia in your blood, and meningitis in your meninges.  I cause Meningitis in two ways, both resulting as a secondary infection. I can spread directly from your nasopharynx to your meninges, or I can take the scenic route by causing bacteremia which eventually leads me to the meninges. I cause the harsh inflammatory reaction that is responsible for your symptoms indirectly by means of my dismantled bacterial cell wall. When my cell wall lyses I release an exotoxin known as pneumolysin, this along with the hydrogen peroxide that I produce kills your cells that surround me. My cell wall elicits the alternate complement pathway, coagulation cascade, cytokine cascade, and excretion of interlukin1, 6, and tumor necrosis factor which lead to the inflammatory response along with other symptoms.

            Approximately 14% of people that develop an invasive disease from me will die. Since I can practice transformation (bacteria genetic exchange) and competence (picking up extracellular DNA), many of my strains have become antibiotic resistant across the spectrum. The sad thing is that you can protect yourself from most of my strains. A 23-valent conjugated vaccine has been produced which protects against 88% of the invasive strains (23 of the most common types). However, the vaccine is usually not effective in children under two because they do not form adequate antibodies. As long as the vaccine continues to be underused, I will continue to thrive.

References:

Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases. Streptococcus pneumoniae Disease. CDC. 14 Feb. 2004 <http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/streppneum_t.htm>.

Sekhar, Deepa. Streptococcus pneumoniae. Brown University. 1999 <http://www.brown.edu/Courses/Bio_160/Projects 1999/bmenin/spneu.html>.

Todar, Kenneth. Streptococcus pneumoniae: Pneumococcal pneumonia. University of Wisconsin: Department of Bacteriology. 2003 <http://textbookofbacteriology.net/S.pneumoniae.html>.

	PROFILE
	Name: Streptococcus Mutans
	Niche: The human mouth
	Cellular Morphology: Spherical shaped, in chains
	Gram Stain Reaction: Gram Positive
	Special Features: I ingest carbohydrates and produce a nice acid which creates tooth decay!!!
Streptococcus Mutans	Interesting fact: Dental disease is one of the most prevalent and costly infectious diseases in the United States

Smile!  I am the bacteria that mainly keeps dentists in business!  If it were not for me, you would not have those wonderful pits in your teeth known as cavities.  I am Streptococcus Mutans, and I am the cause of tooth decay.

My favorite things to eat are carbohydrates- especially those consisting of sugar!!  I injest the sugar, and then create acidic waste.  It is this acid that eats through the enamel and causes a cavity.  Now, I realize I am mighty, for enamel is the hardest substance in the body and my by-product eats right through it! 

Virtually everyone carries me along all day in their mouth.  Some substances such as Xylitol, found in select chewing gum, are detrimental to my health (Xylitol inhibits my growth). 

Some researchers are working on a vaccine against me, which makes me sad!  I’ve been causing tiny holes in the smiles of people everywhere!!!

	PROFILE
	Name: Neisseria meningitidis (meningococcal meningitis )
	Niche: noses and throats of those who carry me around
	Cellular Morphology: diplococcus
	Interesting fact: Meningococcal disease strikes about 3,000 Americans each year and is responsible for approximately 300 deaths annually. It is estimated that 100 to 125 cases of meningococcal disease occur annually on college campuses and five to 15 students die as a result.
	Gram Stain: Gram-Negative
Neisseria meningitidis

Good day!  I am Bacterial Meningitis.  I have a bad reputation, and quite frankly, I am proud of it.  Basically I cause inflammation of the meninges, which are the linings surrounding the brain and spinal cord.

The tell-tale symptoms of me include fever, headache and stiffness of the neck when you try to bend the head forward onto the chest.  I am much more serious than my counterpart, Viral Meningitis.   I can be fatal, and may attack healthy people at any age. The first symptoms can be just like flu. My poor host then does not like bright lights and is irritable and may vomit. 

Many healthy people carry me in their noses or throats without being ill. I can be spread between people by coughing, sneezing, kissing and other close contact. When, resistance is lowered, it is my time to shine, and access the brain via the bloodstream. Once there, I spread rapidly through the linings of the brain, causing swelling. I can also spread in the bloodstream and as a result can cause shock and collapse (septicaemia).

If my host does not seek treatment, then they may die, as I am very dangerous.  However, once my host has been treated, they cannot transmit me to anyone else.  So, treatment is good for them, bad for me.  :(

References:

American College Health Association. Meningococcal Meningitis. (http://www.acha.org/projects_programs/men.cfm) Accessed November 2004.