SPIROCHETES Flashcards
(14 cards)
Characterized by the appearance of a hard chancre (a painless ulcer) that develops at the site of inoculation, most commonly the genitalia
Primary syphilis
Symptoms known as Hutchinson triad (deafness, blindness, notched peg-shaped
teeth) may occur
Poor bone formation may result “sabershin bowing of the tibia and the “bulldog” appearance of a deformed maxilla
Congenital syphilis
Complications of syphilis at this stage: central nervous system disease (neurosyphilis), cardiovascular abnormalities
Tertiary syphilis
corkscrew motility
Treponema pallidum
Causative agents of tickborne and louse-borne relapsing fever and tickborne Lyme disease in humans
Borrelia
Transmitted from the louse Pediculus humanus subsp. humanus;
Borrelia recurrentis
disease Transmitted by the bite of Ixodes ticks
Lyme Disease
Characteristic red, ring-shaped skin lesion with a central clearing that first appears at the site of the tick bite but may develop at distant sites as we
First stage: erythema migrans (EM)
Lyme disease stage: Arthritis, but the most important features are neurologic disorders (i.e., meningitis, neurologic deficits) and carditis
Second
Lyme disease stage: Characterized by chronic arthritis or acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans (ACA), a diffuse skin rash, and may continue for years
Third
Reside in the brush border within the intestine and appear as a “false brush border” upon histologic staining with hematoxylin and eosin
Brachyspira pilosicoli
Free-living and parasitic forms; Spiral-shaped, right-handed helices with hooked ends; Contain two axial filaments and exhibit either a spinning motility or a rapid back-and-forth movement
Leptospira
most severe illness; symptoms caused by liver, kidney, or vascular dysfunction with lethal pulmonary hemorrhage; death can occur in up to 10% of cases
Weil disease
