Campylobacteriosis

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Spiral rod Campylobacter jejunum. From: Wikipedia.org [1]

Etiology/Bacteriology

Taxonomy

| Domain = Bacteria | Phylum = Proteobacteria | Class = Epsilon Proteobacteria | Order = Campylobacterales | Family = Campylobacteraceae | Genus = Campylobacter | Species = jejuni

Description

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Caption

Pathogenesis

Transmission

Infectious Dose, Incubation, Colonization

Epidemiology

Virulence Factors

Clinical features

Symptoms

Morbidity and Mortality

Diagnosis

Diagnosis of campylobacter is done by confirming its presence in the patient’s stool. The two methods currently used in identification are growth on a selective medium such as Preston campylobacter selective agar (Bolton F.J. and Robertson L. (1982) J. Clin. Pathol. 35. 462-467.) and Polymerization Chain Reaction (PCR) (World J Gastroenterol. 2013 May 28; 19(20): 3090–3095. Published online 2013 May 28. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v19.i20.3090 PMCID: PMC3662949 Mao-Jun Zhang, Bo Qiao, Xue-Bin Xu, and Jian-Zhong Zhang)to determine the DNA presence of Campylobacter jejuni as well as other related species and subspecies.

Treatment

Treatment of Campylobacteriosis is done by managing the symptoms and any complications until the symptoms subside. Symptoms mainly include diarrhea leading to dehydration, and vomiting. Antibiotics can be used but are not usually administered unless serious complications arise. A majority of people recover from the symptoms within a week; however, some cases have known to take up to approximately 10 days.

Replacements of fluids and electrolytes lost during diarrhea and vomiting are keys to recovery and preventing symptoms from being prolonged. Water or rehydration drinks are recommended. Drinks such as soda and fruit juices contain too much sugar and too few electrolytes to be considered effective treatments for dehydration.

Maintaining a normal diet as much as possible will help to recovering faster. Avoid foods that have high fat and sugar content as well as spicy foods, alcohol, and coffee until approximately 2 days after symptoms subside. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2010). Campylobacter. Available online: http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/divisions/dfbmd/diseases/campylobacter.)

Prevention

Several leading organizations including WHO, CDC, FDA, USDA, and state health departments have ongoing studies, investigations, and monitoring of Campylobacter across the world. Although the bacteria spreads through fecal oral transmission, a majority of infections occur from food born contamination, especially poultry products.

Risk Avoidance

Proper food handling and washing hands are key practices to prevent the spread of Campylobacter jejuni.

• Make sure that the meat is cooked throughout (no longer pink in the center). All poultry should be cooked to at least an internal temperature of 165°F.

• Wash hands with soap before and after preparing food, especially raw meats.

• Prevent cross-contamination while preparing foods by using separate cutting boards for raw meats and other foods

• Cleaning all cutting boards, kitchen countertops, and silverware with soap and hot water.

• Do not drink unpasteurized milk or untreated surface water.

• Be sure that persons with diarrhea wash their hands carefully and frequently with soap to help reduce the risk of spreading the infection.

• Washing hands with soap after coming in contact with pet feces.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1600 Clifton Rd. Atlanta, GA 30333, USA < http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/divisions/dfbmd/diseases/campylobacter/>

Immunization

Studies are still ongoing as to human vaccinations and immunizations against Campylobacter jejuni. Currently there are Immunizations available to chickens. Conventional methods of using heat or chemically killed vaccines have not completely protected against infection occurring. Using nanoparticales and constructing a DNA vaccine that targets the flagellum of the bacteria, which is a key mechanism of attachment in the gastrointestinal tract, resulted in a significant decrease in the campylobacter’s ability to colonize the host. (Intranasal Immunization with Chitosan/pCAGGS-flaA Nanoparticles Inhibits Campylobacter jejuni in a White Leghorn Model, Jin-lin Huang, Yan-Xin Yin, [...], and Xin-an Jiao, Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology. 2010; 2010: 589476)

Host Immune Response

References

References

[Sample reference] Takai, K., Sugai, A., Itoh, T., and Horikoshi, K. "Palaeococcus ferrophilus gen. nov., sp. nov., a barophilic, hyperthermophilic archaeon from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent chimney". International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. 2000. Volume 50. p. 489-500.

Created by Halen Borron, Kelley Raines, and Evan Robinson, students of Tyrrell Conway at the University of Oklahoma.