Pneumococcal meningitis and the role of Streptococcus pneumoniae

Introduction

Figure 1. Visual of typical meninges and inflamed meninges in the case of meningitis eHealthMD.

By Avery Anderson

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Bacterial meningitis is a potentially life-threatening disease of the central nervous system (CNS). It is characterized by inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord, known as the meninges. The meninges include the pia mater, the arachnoid and the dura mater that encase and protect the brain and spinal cord. Figure 1 demonstrates the location of the meninges and shows a visual representation of inflammation that occurs during meningitis. The two leading causes of bacterial meningitis are Streptococcus pneumonia and Neisseria meningitidis [27]. Bacterial meningitis caused by Neisseria meningitidis is known as meningococcal meningitis while bacterial meningitis caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae is referred to as pneumococcal meningitis. Streptococcus pneumoniae accounts for two-thirds of all meningitis cases in the United States and Western Europe [1] and has the highest mortality rate of all other microorganisms causing meningitis [26]. In regions of the world where resources are scarce, fatality rates of pneumococcal meningitis near 51% and even in developed countries the rates are as high as 37% [7].

Streptococcus pneumoniae

Figure 2. Photomicrograph of gram-positive Streptococcus pneumoniae grown from blood culture, on 1978. By Dr. Mike Miller, at the CDC.

Figure 3. Depiction of Streptococcus pneumoniae substrate transport, carbohydrate and glutamine metabolism, and selected categories of cell surface proteins, for full caption see paper Hoskins, et. al 2001 PubMed.

Introduce the topic of your paper. What microorganisms are of interest? Habitat? Applications for medicine and/or environment?

Pneumococcal Meningitis Pathogenesis

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Interaction with other microbial species

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Figure 5. Neuronal damage and histopathology in humans with pneumococcal meningitis. The images show the histopathology of patients with bacterial meningitis, including parenchymal and meningeal hemorrhages (A), neutrophilic infiltration and arteritis obliterans (B), abscess formation and venous thrombosis (C), recent infarctions (D and E), and meningitis without cortical infiltration (F), adapted from Mook-Kanamori, Geldhoff, van der Poll, and van de Beek, 2011. NCBI.

Symptoms & Diagnosis

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References

[1] Hodgkin, J. and Partridge, F.A. "Caenorhabditis elegans meets microsporidia: the nematode killers from Paris." 2008. PLoS Biology 6:2634-2637.

Authored for BIOL 238 Microbiology, taught by Joan Slonczewski, 2015, Kenyon College.