Pathogenic Bacteria : Transmission, Prevention, and Treatment

Myobacterium tuberculosis Flesh-eating Streptococcus Botulism (Clostridium bacteria) Meningitis Tetanus

Transmission of Bacterial Disease 1.Food/water: supplies are contaminated with bacteria, sometimes from waste Ex: cholera, salmonella, E. coli, Listeria 2.Contact: bacteria from another person/object enter through broken skin Ex: staph, gonorrhea, syphilis Vibrio cholerae Treponema pallidum (Syphilis)

Transmission of Bacterial Disease 3. Respiratory system: bacteria on hands enters nose, mouth, eyes Ex: Strep throat, Tuberculosis 4. Vectors: animals transmit bacteria through bites Ex: Yersinia pestis (black plague) from rat fleas

Prevention of Bacterial Disease - Proper food/water handling - Vaccines A vaccine is a weakened or dead form of an organism; sometimes just the toxin the bacteria produce Vaccines allow the immune system to create antibodies and memory B cells for a later infection

Good hygiene, including use of: –Antiseptics- chemical solutions applied to the skin that disrupt the cell membrane of bacteria –Disinfectants- chemical solutions applied to non-living surfaces that disrupt the cell membrane of bacteria Prevention of Bacterial Disease

Treatment of Bacterial Disease Bacterial infections are treated with antibiotics –Antibiotics are compounds produced by bacteria or fungi that block the growth and reproduction of bacteria –Antibiotics destroy cell walls of bacteria –Due to partial and overuse of antibiotics, many bacteria are now resistant to them

Antibiotic Resistance Changes in your DNA don’t usually affect you, because you have so many cells Bacteria often have DNA mutations that affect the whole organism because they have only one set of DNA Bacteria easily exchange DNA using plasmids Therefore, genetically different bacteria are being created all the time!

Antibiotic Resistance Use of antibiotics kills most bacteria, but due to mutations some bacteria have genes that make them resistant to death by antibiotics Without competition, they live to recolonize the area/body Resistant MRSA and TB

Bacteria Communication Video _bac/ _bac/