Tuesday, October 31, 2006

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.

Monday, October 30, 2006

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!


Sunday, October 29, 2006

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.




Saturday, October 28, 2006

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.

Thursday, October 26, 2006

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.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

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.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

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.

Monday, October 23, 2006

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.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

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.

Saturday, October 21, 2006

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.