spirochetes Flashcards
(130 cards)
main characteristics of spirochetes
-coiled shaped
-most don’t gram stain
-none culturable on routine media
what is needed for spirochetes
good patient history and diagnosed serologically
syphilis
3rd/4th most common STD
organism responsible to syphilis
treponema pallidum
(need to differentiate between normal flora or pathogen)
where is normal flora treponema pallidum found
oral and urogenital region
transmission stage
gets in through breaks in skin
-transmitted gential, anal or oral region
primary stage incubation period
10-60 days before any symptoms
primary stage- syhphillis
development of chancre at site of entry
shanker- hard ulcer lesion
-may last 1-5 weeks if not treated (infectious)
small amounts of people will heal spontaneously
early stage of syphilis will be serology
negative
only way to diagnose
dark field microscope
when do people serolgoically convert
late primary stage or secondary stage
majority of people will be antibody
+ for life (does not mean active infection)
secondary stage- syhphillis
rash all over body- on palms of hands and soles of feet
lesions contains spirochetes and makes it contagious
latent syphilis
no outwardly symptoms, sero +, contagious, pass mother to baby
not everyone goes into
some people revert back to seconday stage or go to teritary stage
people can be latent for life
if more than 4 years will become non contagious
teritary
can be
secondary- teriatry
or
secondary- latent- tertiary
happens if not treated
years after primary
spread to other parts fo body
how is tertiary diagnosed
gummas- ulcer lesions that break down and become ulcerated
what is congenital syphilis
mother has syphilis and passes it onto the baby
-can happen at any stage of syphilis
-but typically not passed until 4th month of preg
what is associated with congenital syphilis
hutchinson’s diease
malformation of long bones
molar moons
what is specifically seen in hutchison’s disease
deep grove in teeth and deafness
as soon as baby is detected to have congenital syphilis
treatment should start immediately
-can prevent major outcomes
if mother is diagnosed with syphilis during pregnancy
baby will be treated immediately after birth
why is congenital syphilis not always easy to diagnose
first 6 months of baby life is IgG from mother
so if truly want to diagnose need IgM , but doesn’t get very high because immune system not fully developed
2 treatment– diagnosis
treponemal test or non-treponemal test
non-treponemal
used a a screen because rapid and easy to perform
less specific, but more sensitive
does not detect any antibodies to treponema