Relapsing fever is a type of fever caused by various spirochete bacteria where the infection results in recurrent episodes of fever with an intermittent period of remission. This characteristic pattern of remission and relapse gives relapsing fever its name and allows it to differentiate from other causes of fever. Other diseases caused by spirochetes include […]
Infections
Lemierre syndrome Presentation and Treatment
Lemierre syndrome or Lemierre’s disease refers to thrombophlebitis of the jugular veins with distant metastatic sepsis in the setting of initial oropharyngeal infection such as pharyngitis/tonsillitis with or without peritonsillar or retropharyngeal abscess. Lemierre’s syndrome is also called postanginal shock including sepsis and human necrobacillosis. It most often develops as a complication of a bacterial […]
Prion Diseases – Types, Symptoms and Treatment
Prion diseases are a group of rare progressive neurodegenerative diseases caused by prions. Prions are made up entirely of protein material; so they are also called “proteinaceous infectious particles”. The term prion refers to abnormal, pathogenic agents that are both infectious and transmissible. They are bits of misfolded protein (prion protein) (PrP) that have the ability […]
Sterlization Methods and Their Use
Sterilization or sterilisation is the process that eliminates, removes, kills, or deactivates all forms of life and other biological agents such as fungi, bacteria, viruses, spore forms, prions, unicellular eukaryotic organisms such as Plasmodium present in a specified region, such as a surface, a volume of fluid, medication, or in a compound such as biological culture media. Sterilization has a very important role in making and keeping medical devices, implants, […]
Gas Gangrene or Clostridial Myonecrosis
Gas gangrene is a necrotizing soft tissue infection that affects skeletal muscle. It is also called clostridial myonecrosis and is is typically caused by Clostridum baceteria, most commonly Clostridium perfringens, Clostridium septicum, and Clostridium novyi. It is an opportunistic infection that is spreads extremely fast and is lethal. Clostridium is a genus of anaerobic, gram positive bacteria. Clostridium use anaerobic […]
Cutaneous Larva Migrans
Cutaneous larva migrans is a skin eruption caused by the larvae of animal hookworms [Not the human hookworms which affect the alimentary system but rarely can cause this condition too]. The term literally means “wandering larvae in the skin”. It is the most common tropically acquired dermatosis. Ancylostoma braziliense is the most frequently found species. Larval migration […]
Modes of Disease Transmission
Infectiuous diseases have ability to spread from one individual to others. It is important to understand how does diseases spread. Mode of spread of disease is also called mode of disease transmission. This understanding helps us to curb the spread and take effective personal preventive measures. Different pathogens spread differently. After having infected one host, […]
Infection and Infectious Agents
Infection is defined as the invasion of body tissues by pathogens or disease-causing agents and their proliferation resulting in reaction of host tissues. The reaction could be to the organisms or toxins they produce. The illness so resulted in known as infection or infectious disease. Most of the infectious diseases are can be transmitted from […]
Polio Causes, Presentation and Treatment
Polio is common usage for poliomyelitis which is an infectious disease caused by poliovirus resulting in acute illness, paralysis and sometimes death and in residual paralytic deformities. Pathophysiology of Polio Poliovirus is a type of enterovirus, a group of RNA viruses that colonize the gastrointestinal tract. Three serotypes of poliovirus have been identified. PV1 is […]
Drug Resistant Tuberculosis Occurrence and Treatment
A person is said to have drug resistant tuberculosis if the tuberculous bacteria that the person is infected with, will not respond to, and are resistant to, at least one of the main antitubercular drugs. Drug resistant tuberculosis occurs when bacteria become resistant to the drugs used to treat TB. This means that the drug […]