Streptococcus pneumoniae

Hello, I'm S. pneumoniae.
I'm a Gram Positive coccus.
Sometimes I'm known as the 'pneumococcus'.
I'm found in some people's airways.

I have a capsule coating that means I can be grouped into 80 'serotypes'.

I am the most common cause of pneumonia in healthy people, although I also get into smokers and the elderly.
I'm also cause lots of bacterial meningitis.

Streptococcus mutans

Hello there.
I'm S. mutans.
I'm Gram Positive coccus.
Like my cousin S. sanguis, I'm an A haemolytic (Viridian) strep.

I am one of the most common causes of cavities.
I stick to the teeth using a sticky film the makes up dental plaque.
I make acid and eat away at your teeth.

Streptococcus sanguis

Hi, I'm S. sanguis.
I am a Gram Positive coccus, but I am not a B haemolytic strep.
I am an A haemolytic strep, which means that when I'm grown on a blood agar plate, I end up green.
I am also known as a Viridian strep because of the green colour I make.

I am often found in the mouth.
I am a common cause of endocarditis, heart valve infection.
I can also cause mouth abscesses.

Streptococcus canis

Hello there.
You can call me S. canis.
I'm a Gram positive coccus and a B haemolytic strep.
I am part of the G Lancefield group.

I'm mostly a dog bacteria and not very common at all in humans.
You can mostly get me from dog bites or open wounds.
Very occasionally I can cause pharyngitis and tonsillitis.

Streptococcus anginosus

Hello, my name is S. anginosus.
I'm a Gram Positive coccus.
I'm often known to be in the Lancefield F group.
The names of my group members change depending where you live.
For example, we are called different things of the UK and USA!

I cause deep tissue abscesses with pus.
I can infect your blood, heart valves (endocarditis) and your bones (osteomyelitis).

Streptococcus bovis

Hi, I'm S. bovis.
I'm a Gram Positive coccus and in the D Lancefield group.
However, I only look like a B heamolytic strep in a test made from rabbit blood.
On another test, made from sheep blood, I am an A heamolytic strep.

I cause endocarditis and get into the blood to cause bacteraemia.
I am also found in alot of places where colon cancer is found.
So if you have me, you should always check for colon cancer.

Streptococcus equi

Hello.
I'm S. equi.
I'm a Gram Positive coccus .
I'm a B heamolytic strep in the C Lancefield group.

I am mostly found in horses.
I infects their airways and lymph nodes.
If I do get into people, I can cause pharyngitis (sore throat) and tonsillitis.

Streptococcus agalactiae

Hi!
My name is S. agalactiae.
I'm a Gram Positive coccus and a B heamolytic strep.
I'm part of the B Lancefield group.

I can get into women's genitalia.
In pregnant women, I cause premature labour, urinary tract infections and endometriosis, plus I get into the mother's blood.

But in the baby I am even more troublesome!
I cause pneumonia, meningitis, shock and bacteraemia (in the blood).

Streptococcus pyogenes

Hello there.
My name is S. pyogenes.
I'm a Gram Positive coccus.
I'm whats known as a 'B heamolytic' strep, part of the Lancefield A group.

I live in the nose and mouth.
I am the number cause of pharyngitis - 'strep throat'.
I have many complications, including abscesses, otitis media and sinusitis.
I can also cause cellulitis, rashes, pyoderma (yellow pustules), gangrene, rheumatic fever and toxic shock.

Staphylococcus caprae

Hi, my name is S. caprae.
I'm a Gram Positive, coagulase negative coccus.
live on healthy human skin.
I can also cause bone and joint infections when I get into cuts and wounds.
I can cause bacteraemia if I get into your blood.

My name originally name from the word 'goat', thats where scientists first found me.

Staphylococcus epidermidis

Hi, I'm S. epidermidis.
I'm a coagulase negative, Gram Positive coccus.
I'm found in normal human skin

When I infect skin I make it red and oozy.
I infect prosthetics, pins, plates, screws and anything in your body made of metal.
I cause pain, redness, swelling and tissue erosion which loosens the prosthesis.
I get into your head through shunts into your brain and give you meningitis.

I make a 'slime' layer that is very hard to get off, so you have to remove all the metal.

Staphylococcus saprophyticus

Hello.
My name is S. saprophyticus.
I'm a Gram Positive cocci like my cousin S. aureus.
But I'm a little different to him, I'm called a "coagulase negative" staph, which means I react differently then him in a special test.

I get into women's bladders and urinary tracts.
I am the most common Gram Positive cause of urinary tract infection.
I'm very popular, especially in sexually active young women.

Staphylococcus aureus

Hello there!
You can call me S. aureus.
I am a Gram Positive cocci (round) bacteria.
I am also known as 'golden staph' because I form little yellow spots when I'm grown in a lab.

Sometimes I can be a special type called "Methicillin resistant S. aureus" (or MRSA) and it is VERY VERY hard to get rid of.
I live naturally in the noses and throats of many people.

I cause pus filled infections anywhere I can get into.
Specifically, I love skin, breasts, surgery or wounds, heart valves (endocarditis) and blood.
I am the most common cause of joint and bone infections.
I can also cause Staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome or Staphylococcal toxic shock syndrome.

Neisseria meningitidis

Hello, my name is N. meningitidis.
You can call me the meningococcus.
I am a Gram Negative cocci (round) bacteria.
I'm carried in the noses and mouths of 5-10% of people, but I don't make them sick.
They can give me to other people by kissing and sharing drinks.

I have 13 different 'serogroups' - my most deadly groups are A, B, C and Y.
These can quickly kill healthy people.

Most of the time, I cause meningitis and a special purple rash made of bleeding in the skin.
I can also infect your blood.

Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Hello hello.
I'm N. gonorrhoeae.
I'm Gram Negative bacteria, but I'm not a rod.
I'm a coccus, which is a round bacteria, or sometimes two stuck together.
Most people call me 'Gonococcus'.

I am spread by sexual contact and I cause the STD called gonorrhoea.
I can give you urethrtis, pharyngitis and cervicitis - which can lead to infertility.
If I get into your blood I cause fever, skin lesions, arthritis and joint pain.
I can get into the eyes of infants when they're born, if their mother is infected with me.

Bartonella quintana

Hi, you can call me B. quintana.
I'm a Gram Negative bacteria.

I travel from person to person on body lice.
The lice spread me around places where there are lots of people close together without proper hygeine.

When I get into you, I cause trench fever.
There were many lice (and me!) in World War I and World War II.
I cause fever, chills, headache, rash and vertigo (dizziness).
I also give you a swollen liver, plus joint and muscle pain.

Bartonella Henselae

Hey, I'm B. henselae.
I'm a Gram Negative bacteria.
You can find me on cats and I get into you through scratches, licks or bites.
I cause Cat Scratch Disease.
I infection your lymph nodes, then make you tired and feverish for a few months.
I usually go away on my own after that.

In people whose body defences don't work properly (like AIDS), I cause quite a few more illnesses.
I cause red or purple spots on the skin called 'bacillary angiomatosis'.
I can also cause 'peliosis', little bleeds under the skin or inside you.

Brucella melitensis

Hi!
My name is B. melitensis.
I'm a Gram Negative bacteria.
I am quite small.
I live in sheep and goats, but some of my cousins live in cows, pigs and dogs.

I cause a zoonotic infection called Brucellosis.
Zoonotic means people can only get me from animals.
I cause fever, headaches, mucle pain and even depression.

Bordetella pertussis

Hello.
You can call me B. pertussis.
I'm a Gram Negative bacteria.
I am spread to people by respiratory droplets.
I cause whooping cough, which can be highly fatal in infants.

How do I do this?
I get into the throat and make toxins.
First I give you a cough, then your throat swells up.
If it swells up enough, it can block your airway, giving your breathing a "whooping" sound.

Pasturella multocida

Hi, I'm P. multocida.
I am a Gram Negative rod.
I'm found in animal's mouths, especially cats and dogs.
I get into you in animal bites, like deep punctures.
I cause aggressive infections of skin.
It can creep all the way down to your tendons, joints and bones.

Actually, most bite wounds are polymicrobial.
That means it's not just me in there causing infection, lots of different bacteria are with me as well.
I'm just the most common.

HACEK bacteria

Hello.
We are the HACEK bacteria.
We are a special group of Gram Negative rods.
The word "HACEK" is an acronym of our names.
We are Haemophilus aphrophilus (and Haemophilus paraphrophilus), Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Cardiobacterium hominis, Eikenella corrodens and Kingella kingae.

We live in the mouth, throat and urogenital tract, but most of the time we don't cause many diseases.
When we do cause diseases, we love to cause endocarditis in people's hearts.
Endocarditis is inflammation of your heart valves.

Legionella longbeachae

Hello, I'm L. longbeachae.
I'm a Gram Negative bacteria.

I often make my home in Australia, though I sometimes visit America.
One of my favourite spots is Western Australia.
I live in some aquatic environments, but most of the time I hang out in soil, potting mix and compost heaps.
I cause severe pneumonia and sometimes legionellosis.

Legionella pneumophilia

Bonjour, I am L. pneumophilia.
I am found everywhere, especially in aquatic environments.
I get into you through aerosol or water droplets.

My most well known serogroups are types 1, 4 and 6.
I'm well known for causing Legionnaire's disease.
This disease gives you a severe pneumonia illness.
I can also give you a milder, flu like disease called pontic fever.

Did you know? Legionnaire's disease got its name because it was first recognised at a legionnaire veteran convention?

Campylobacter jejuni

Hola. I'm C. jejuni.
I am a curved Gram Negative rod.

You can find me in lots of domestic animals.
I am part of the normal bacterial flora of poultry and cattle.
I get into people through dirty drinking water or undercooked meat, especialy chicken.
I cause food poisoning, with a self limiting bloody diarrhoea, abdominal cramps and fever.

Helicobacter pylori

Hello there.
You can call me H. pylori.
I am a helical Gram Negative rod.
I live in the mucous layer of the stomach.

I am famous for causing duodenal and gastric ulcers by making the stomach secrete lots of acid.
I am also a risk factor to some gastric cancers.

More than half the people in the world have me.
In 2005 two scientists from Perth, Western Australia - Robin Warren and Barry Marshall - were given a Nobel prize for their work with me.
Marshall even drank a dish full of me to give himself stomach ulcers and prove their theories.
Before that, everyone thought stomach ulcers were caused by stress!

Haemiphilus aegyptius

Howdy, my name is H. aegyptius.
I'm a Gram negative bacteria from the Haemophilus genus.
Some people consider me to be a special type of H. influenzae.

I cause conjunctivits, but what I really enjoy giving to people is Brazilian purpuric fever.
It causes fever, abdominal pain, vomiting and a purpuric rash.
It was very common in Brazilian children.

Haemophilus ducreyi

Hello, I'm H. ducreyi.
I'm a small, gram negative rod.
I am mostly found in developing countries.

I cause chancroid, a disease which is sexually transmitted.
It has a soft chancre made of genital ulcers
Then I spread to your inguinal (groin) lymph nodes and enlarge them.
Sometimes they form abscesses.

Haemophilus influenzae non-typable

Hello there.
My name is N. influenzae, just like my friend before me.
But we are very different.
I dont have a capsule like he does, so I can't be typed into a group.

I am a small, Gram negative rod.
I can cause bronchitis, sinusitis and otitis media in the ear.
I can also cause pneumonia in the community.
Scientists used to think that I caused flu, but then realised that it was caused by a virus instead.

Haemophilus influenzae type B

Greetings! My name is H. influenzea.
But not just any H. influenzae.
I have a special polysaccharide "capsule", so I can be "typed" into a specific group.
Of all the groups A to G, I am the most important in terms of making you sick.

In kids who are under 18 onths old, I tend to cause meningitis and septicaemia.
I can be rapidly fatal and even cause problem if they survive.
In kid over 18 months old, I usually cause epiglottitis, sweling and blocking off their airways.
I like to give everyone else pharyngitis and laryngotracheobronchitis, which often becomes croup.

Acinetobacter baumanii

Hi, my name is A. baumanii.
I'm a non-fermentative, Gram Negative bacteria.
I live just about everywhere, but I really like to get into the human skin and pharynx (mouth and throat).

In hospitals, I cause pneumonia, urinary tract infection and infection of catheters.
These are normally only in people with a weak immune system.
In the community, I live in North and Central Australia.
There, I cause pneumonia in smokers, alcoholics and in people with diabetes and respiratory diseases.

Burkholderia pseudomallei

Aloha, my name is B. pseudomallei.
I'm a Gram negative, non-fermentative rod.

I'm very common in tropical climates.
I especially love Southeast Asia and Northern Australia.
You can find me in soil, getting into you in cuts or in water.

I cause a very special disease known as Melioidosis.
Melioidosis involves pneumonia, abscesses in soft tissue and sometimes septicaemia.
It can be highly fatal!
I'm quite resistant to many antibiotics.

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia

Sup y'all! You can call me S. maltophilia.

Wow, what a tongue-twister my name is, try saying that 4 times fast.
But it wasn't always my name.
I used to be Pseudomonas maltophilia, until I got my own genus.
Sometimes I'm even called Xanthomonas maltophilia.
As for what I am, I'm a non-fermentative Gram negative rod, like my buddy Pseudomonas.

I also like to hang in hospitals and am very resistant to most antibiotics.
My specialities are lower respiratory tract infections in people with cystic fibrosis and septicaemia in some cancer patients.
Septicaemia means I get into their blood and make their whole body sick.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Howdy, I'm P. aruginosa.
I'm a gram negative bacteria.
But I'm not an Enterobacteriaceae like my friends before me.
You can call me a non-fermentative rod, meaning I don't ferment glucose.
You can mostly find me in hospitals

I can cause lots and lots of things in people!

In people with urinary catheters, I can cause UTIs.
In intravenous drug users and transplant patients, I can cause septicaemia.
If you have cystic fibrosis or are on a respirator, I can cause a respiratory infection.
I cause swimmer's ear, plus colonise skin ulcers, infections and burns, just to name a few!

I'm also very resistant to most antibiotics, so it's very hard to get rid me.

Yersinia enterocolitica

Hey there, my, name is Y. enterocolitica.
I'm Gram negative, an Enterobacteriacea bacteria.
I'm part of the tribe Yersiniae.

I'm not as well known as my cousin Y. pestis, but I'm still important.
I get to you in food and I love pork.
I can cause abdominal pain and diarrhoea.
Kids are my favourite.

But look out! when I infect your lymph nodes and your ileum, I can look just like appendicitis.

Yersinia Pestis

I'm Y. Pestis.
I'm a Gram negative Enterobacteriaceae bacteria.
I'm from the Yersiniae tribe.

I am the cause of the Black death and the bubonic plague.
I spread all through out Europe in the 14th century and devastated the population.
Some people say I took out a third of Europe!!!

I get spread by fleas that are carried on rats, there were lots of them.
I'm still endemic in a lot of the world, especially in Africa.

Providencia stuartii

Hi, my name is P. stuartii.
My cousin P. rettgeri and I are Gram negative enterobacteriaceae.
We are part of the Proteae tribe.

We cause infections in debilitated pateints and in hospitals.
We can urinary tract infections, especially around catheters.
We also love infecting burns.

Morganella morganii

Hey there, my name is M. morganii.
I'm a Gram negative bacteria and I'm from the Enterobacteriaceae family.
I'm from the Proteae tribe.
I love hospitals, because there I can cause nosocomial infections.
I especially love debilitated patients and causing urinary tract infections.

I used to be called "Morgan's bacillus".

Proteus mirabilis

Hi there. You can call me P. mirabilis.
I'm a Gram negative Enterobacteriaceae bacteria.
I'm from tribe 6, Proteae.
P. vulgaris and I can cause UTI in the community, but we are only the 2nd most common bacterial cause.

We were beaten by E. coli!

We can also cause nosocomial (hospital) wound infections, pneumonia and septicaemia.
P. vulgaris is better at that than I am.

We are both resistant to many types of antibiotics.


I'm named after a Greek god!
Proteus was the son of the sea god, Poseidon.

Serratia marcescens

Hi, I'm S. marcescens.
I'm a Gram negative bacteria in the Enterobacteriaceae family.
I'm part of the Klebsiella tribe.
My cousin S. liquefaciens and I are very much like the Enterobacters.
We hang out with them in hospitals and we also like to cause nosocomial infections.
Just like the Enterobacters, many antibiotics won't work on us.

Enterobacter aerogenes

Hi, my name is E. aerogenes.
I'm a Gram negative bacteria from the Enterobacteriaceae family.
I'm from the Klebsiellae tribe.
Hospitals are my favourite place, where I live with my cousins E. cloacae and E. agglomerans.
We cause nosocomial (hospital) infections in debilitated patients.

We are also resistant to many antibiotics.

Klebsiella oxytoca

Hello. My name is K. oxytoca.
I'm Gram negative, in the Enterobacteriaceae family.
I'm part of the Klebsiellae tribe.

My cousin K. ozaenae and I love hospitals.
We cause urinary tract infections, respiratory tract infections and lots of surgical wound infections.

We are very resistant to many antibiotics because we hang around hospitals so much.

Klebsiella rhinoscleromatis

Hey, my name is K. rhinoscleromatis.
I'm a Gram negative bacteria, family enterobacteriaceae.
Like my cousin K. pneumoniae, I'm part of tribe 6, Klebsiellae.

I usually cause chronic granulomatous infection in the mucous membranes of the upper airway.
I cause Rhinoscleroma, a hardening of skin on the nose, mouth and pharynx.
I'm much more rare than than my cousin.

Klebsiella pneumoniae

Hi, my name is K. pneumoniae.
I'm Gram negative, in the Enterobacteriaceae family.
I'm part of the Klebsiellae tribe.

I cause a lobar pneumonia in the community.
Most of the time, you find me in people with alcoholism, diabetes or chronic obstructive airway disease.
My pneumonia is necrotising (cell destroying) and is severe.
If you have my pneumonia, your sputum will look like "currant jelly".

Citrobacter freundii

Hey there, I'm C. freundii.
I'm a Gram negative bacteria in the enterobacteriaceae family.
I'm part of tribe 4, the Citrobacter tribe.

My cousin C. diversus and I like to hang around hospitals.
We cause nosocomial (hospital) pneumonia
In infants, we like to cause pneumonia and sometimes meningitis.
In the community, we cause urinary tract infections.

Salmonella enteritidis

Hi, my name is S. enteritidis.
I'm part of the enterobacteriaceae, from tribe 3, Salmonellae.
I'm a Gram negative bacteria.

When I have typhoidal strains people just call me S. typhi.
My typhoidal strains cause typhoid fever.
It's a serious systemic disease you get when I invade through your intestines to you blood.
It can be fatal!

I have thousands of non-typhoidal strains as well.
It can infect you through food and water and cause self-limiting diarrhoea.

My cousins S. paratyphi causes paratyphoid fever (but I just think he's copying me)

One of my most famous carriers is Typhoid Mary.
She was a cook and was quarantined until the day she died.

Shigella dysenteriae

Hello.
My name is S. dysenteriae.
I'm a Gram negative bacteria in the Enterbacteriaceae family.
I'm also part of tribe I, Ecsherichiae.
My cousins S. flexneri, S. boydii, S. sonnei and I are all very close.
We all cause bacterial dysentery, a diarrhoea with blood and pus.
We can do this because we have Shiga toxin.
We can be transmitted on clothes and furniture.

I was all around in world war II and I killed King
Henry V!

Escherichia coli

Hey, my name is E. coli.
I'm a Gram negative bacteria and I'm part of the enterbacteriaceae family.
In my family I am part of tribe I, Escherichieae.
My whole family is oxidase negative.
I live in the bowels.

My uropathic strains are the most common cause of urinary tract infection. For teh win!
Some of my strains have virulence factors, so I can cause diarrhoea.
The diarrhoea can watery or bloody, depending on which strain you have.

Aeromonas hydrophilia

I'm A. hydrophilia.
You've met my friends the Vibrios already.
We're all Gram negative, oxidase positive fermenters and we all like to hang out in water.
I like fresh water and sewage.
When I get into water wounds I can cause cellulitis
Sometimes I can cause diarrhoea.

Vibrio vulnificus

Hi there, I'm V. vulnificus.
I'm a Gram negative, oxidase positive fermenter bacteria.
I'm the most virulent of the non-cholera Vibrios.
Like my cousins, I live in the ocean.
I can get into you on contaminated seafood, where I cross from your gut to your blood stream.
Then I can cause septicaemia and necrotic ulcers under the skin, with 50% mortality!
Don't worry though, that's only if you are immunocompromised or have liver disease.

If your immune system if healthy, I can still get into your marine wounds.
I cause severe cellulitis and skin necrosis.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus

Hey there!
Call me V. parahaemolyticus, part of the Vibrio genus.
I'm a Gram negative, oxidase positive fermenter bacteria.
I live in salt water and you can get me by eating contaminated seafood.

I cause gastroenteritis with watery diarrhoea, cramps and fever.
Most of the time my infection is self-limiting.

I even appear in a comic!!