These lecture notes will provide an outline of information from the lectures. They are not complete. They should be used to help follow the lecture and as a guideline for information I think is important. You will need to fill in the gaps.


These notes were updated April, 2001, and are ready for printing by Spring 2001 Med Micro. students.

If you have already printed them, there is no need to re-print, as there have been no changes.

Unlike previous material tested, the material for Exam 5 on April 11 will come primarily from these notes and from tables that will be distributed in class. The tables list specific pages from the text that can be used for reference (in addition to the notes).

Do not forget that Chapter 20, which was not covered in the last exam, will also be included in this test.

STD/Urogenital Diseases (Chapter 10 and other chapters)

Urinary System

  1. Kidneys
    • Form urine, which is acid and somewhat antimicrobial
    • Infection is "pyelonephritis": potentially life-threatening
  2. Ureters
    • Both ureters enter the bladder with urine from the kidney
    • Valves prevent the backflow of urine from the bladder into the ureters, which protects the kidney from lower UTI
    • Infection is "ureteritis"
  3. Urinary bladder
    • Infection is "cystitis"
  4. Urethra
    • Flushing action of urine during urination removes potential pathogens
    • Infection is "urethritis"
Reproductive System
  1. Female
    • Ovaries
    • Fallopian tubes
    • Uterus
    • Cervix
    • Vagina
    • Accessory glands
    • Labia
    • Clitoris
  2. Male
    • Testes
    • Epididymis
    • Vas deferens
    • Prostate
    • Accessory glands
    • Urethra
    • Penis
Bacterial Diseases of the Urinary System
  • Overview
    • Most UTI move upward from urethra
    • Microbes usually enter from the outside
    • Intestinal bacteria predominate
    • Many are of nosocomial origin
      • Many of these are associated with urinary catheters
      • Many are caused by E. coli
      • Others are due to Proteus, Klebsiella, Enterococcus, Pseudomonas
    • Some originate in kidneys
      • Due to systemic infections
Cystitis
  • Symptoms
    • Dysuria
    • Pyuria
  • Number one cause is E. coli
  • Number two cause is Staphylococcus saprophyticus
Pyelonephritis
  • Symptoms
    • Fever
    • Flank/back pain
  • 75% of cases due to E. coli
  • Potentially life-threatening
    • IV antimicrobials often initiated
  • Leptospira interrogans
Glomerulonephritis
  • Sequelae to Streptococcus pyogenes infection
    • Unlike rheumatic fever, which follows strep throat infections, this may follow either strep throat or streptococcal skin infection
  • Immune complexes present
    • Streptococcal antigens and high levels of anti-streptococcal antibodies that also cross-react with host’s kidney tissue cells
    • Complement is activated
      • Deposition of the immune complexes along small blood vessels/capillaries of kidney basement membrane (glomerular capillaries) is responsible for activation
      • Phagocytes are mobilized
      • Macrophages release cytokines, causing inflammation and further kidney damage
    • Recall, this is a Type III autoimmune disorder
  • Symptoms include blood and protein in urine, generalized edema, and hypertension
Diseases of the Reproductive System
  • Most are STDs
    • 30+ bacterial, viral, protist etiologic agents identified
    • 15 million new cases/year in the U.S.
    • Bacterial and protist infections are curable
    • Viral infections are treatable, but not curable
  • A few are not sexually transmitted
Bacterial Diseases of the Reproductive System
  1. Gonorrhea (GC)
  2. Nongonococcal Urethritis (NGU)
  3. Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID)
  4. Syphilis
  5. Lymphogranuloma Venereum (LGV)
  6. Chancroid (Soft Chancre)
  7. Bacterial Vaginosis
Gonorrhea ("GC")
  • Neisseria gonorrhoeae
    • Gram negative diplococcus
    • Oxidase positive
  • Symptoms
    • In men, PAINFUL urination and discharge of pus
    • In women, often none; abdominal pain late in disease
Complications
  • Can infect throat (pharyngeal gonorrhea) and anus (anal gonorrhea)
  • Can be passed from mother to infant (ophthalmia neonatorum)
  • Untreated, GC may disseminate
    • Systemic infection can involve the joints, heart, meninges, eyes, pharynx
    • Gonorrheal endocarditis
    • Gonorrheal meningitis
    • Gonorrheal arthritis
Disseminated gonorrhea
  • Sometimes called arthritis dermatitis syndrome
  • Primarily a disorder of females
  • Dissemination occurs as a result of septic infection following gonococcus infection, often following a menstrual period
  • Skin lesions are characteristic, and joints are frequently affected
  • Although WBC infiltration is often observed in joint fluid, positive cultures occur only 30% of the time
Nongonococcal Urethritis
  • AKA nonspecific urethritis (NSU)
  • Any inflammation of urethra not due to GC
  • Most commonly due to Chlamydia trachomatis
    • Most common STD in the US
    • Often co-infection with GC
    • Other causes include Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma hominis
  • Symptoms, when present:
    • Painful urination and watery discharge in men
    • Most women, some men have no symptoms
Complications
  • Males
    • Inflammation of epididymis
  • Females
    • Inflammation/scarring of fallopian tubes
    • Pelvic inflammatory disease
  • Newborns (born to infected mothers)
    • Eye infections
    • Pneumonia
  • To diagnose: rapid DNA tests are way to go (urine/cervical/urethral discharge samples OK)
Pelvic Inflammatory Disease
  • A clinical syndrome that is due to the ascending spread of microbes from the vagina and cervix to the endometrium, fallopian tubes, or other associated structures
  • Very common
    • 10% of women suffer from this
    • Of these, 25% will develop serious complications such as infertility
    • May include endometritis, salpingitis, tuba-ovarian abscess, and pelvic peritonitis.
    • Salpingitis may lead to ectopic pregnancy or sterility
  • Caused by N. gonorrhoeae and C. trachomatis
Pathogenesis
  • Prior infections of the fallopian tubes (usually of N. gonorrhoeae or C. trachomatis) take place resulting in damage to the ciliary cells lining the fallopian tubes
  • Another infection ensues and the organisms are able to ascend the fallopian tubes and cause infections in contiguous structures
  • The morbidity produced by PID is greater than that of any other serious infection. In the U.S. about 850,000 women, requiring more than 212,000 hospital admissions and 115,000 surgical procedures are reported each year
  • Risk factors include:
    1. Multiple sex partners
    2. History of previous PID
    3. Menstruation
    4. IUD use (oral contraceptives however decrease the risk)
    5. Marital status (single women are at higher risk)
    6. Asymptomatic gonococcal infection in either sexual partner
Syphilis
  • Treponema pallidum
    • Very weak staining Gram negative spirochete
    • Cannot be cultured on media; darkfield exam allows visualization of spirochete
  • STD mainly, BUT also transmitted by
    • Direct inoculation
    • Blood transfusion
    • Placental transmission
    • Most contagious within first four years following primary infection
  • Occurs usually as a result of exposure to a moist lesion
To Diagnose
  • Serological tests used to diagnose
    1. RPR/VDRL: screening test (nontreponemal)
      • 93% of primary syphilis patients will have positive RPR
        • High false positive rate, however
        • Easiest and most economical screening method
      • All positives should be confirmed
      • VDRL used more to follow treatment and for neurosyphilis
    2. FTA-ABS; MHA-TP are confirmatory tests
      • Remains positive for life; cannot be used to follow treatment response
      • False positives may be observed with lupus, mono, and leprosy; also positive with other treponemal infections (yaws, pinta)
      • FTA-ABS is more sensitive with primary syphilis; is the most specific and sensitive test, BUT requires good technique
The Disease
  1. Primary syphilis
    • Chancre at site of infection (about 10 days-3 months after infection; generally 2-6 weeks)
      • Small, hard-based, painless chancre; highly infectious serum in center that is TEEMING with spirochetes (use darkfield to view)
      • Heals within 2-8 weeks
    • Direct test is positive as soon as chancre is evident
    • RPR will usually be positive, once antibody is present
    • Confirmatory tests are positive, once antibody is present
  2. Secondary Syphilis
    • Spirochete is disseminated
    • Skin rash
      • Also found in mouth, throat, cervix
      • Lesions of rash TEEMING with spirochetes and very infectious (greatest concentration)
    • This stage appears about 3-6 weeks after the chancre (primary stage), BUT may show up while chancre is still present
    • Rash heals within several weeks-months
    • This rash may come and go over the next two years
    • All tests for syphilis should be positive here
  3. Latent Syphilis
    • Untreated secondary syphilis goes latent
      • No clinical manifestations
      • No longer contagious
      • Syphilis tests are positive
      • Relapses into secondary syphilis may occur during first four years; less likely after first four years
  4. Tertiary Syphilis
    • Progressive process that may or may not be apparent
      • Aortitis, neurosyphilis, gumma formation
    • Darkfield test is not useful at this point, but serological tests will come up positive
  5. Congenital Syphilis
    • About 25% of infected pregnant women will have a stillbirth
    • 40-70% will give birth to a baby with congenital syphilis
      • Symptoms include skin sores, rashes, fever, jaundice, anemia, various deformities
      • Baby’s sores are infectious
      • If undetected or untreated, baby will develop tertiary syphilis
    • Laboratory diagnosis is difficult because of maternal antibodies
  6. Penicillin is Drug of Choice
    • Snuffles: persistent, bloody rhinitis
    • Multi-organ failure
    • Characteristic bone and teeth changes
    • Syphilitic rash
    • Bloody fissures around lips, nose, and anus
    • CNS involvement
    • Hair loss
    • Gumma in viscera
Lymphogranuloma Venereum
  • Chlamydia trachomatis
    • Strain that is invasive
    • This strain infects lymphoid tissue, leading to obstruction of lymph vessels
      • Causes massive enlargement of external genitals in males and rectal narrowing in females
  • To diagnose:
    • Stain aspirated lymph node pus with iodine and look for clumped, intracellular Chlamydias
    • Rarely, grow Chlamydia in cell culture/embryonated eggs
  • Mainly a tropical disease
Chancroid
  • Hemophilus ducreyi
    • Small, Gram negative rod
  • Symptoms
    • Soft chancre
      • Swollen, painful ulcer with lymph node involvement
        • Lymph nodes may break through skin, discharging pus
    • Lesions occur on genital and other regions (e.g., lips, tongue)
  • Mainly a tropical disease
Inflammation of the Vagina
  • Inflammation of the vagina is most often due to:
    1. Candida albicans (a fungus)
    2. Trichomonas vaginalis (a protist)
    3. Gardnerella vaginalis (most common)
      • Often presents as a vaginosis, rather than a vaginitis (no inflammation evident)
      • These women will have a decrease in Lactobacillus, with an overgrowth of both G. vaginalis and Bacteroides
      • Vaginal pH rises
      • May not be an STD
      • May be a factor in premature births
      • Symptoms
        • Fishy odor
        • Frothy vaginal discharge
        • Clue cells (epithelial cells covered with bacteria)
Fungal Disease of the Reproductive System
  • Candidiasis
  • Cause a vaginitis and NGU in men
  • Not usually an STD
  • Often opportunistic in origin
    • Antimicrobial therapy
    • Diabetes
  • Symptoms: itching, cheesy discharge, yeasty or no odor
Protozoan Disease of the Reproductive System
  • Trichomoniasis
  • Causes a vaginitis
  • Often accompanied by GC coinfection
  • Symptoms: profuse, foul smelling, green discharge; itching
  • Usually an STD
Viral Diseases of the Reproductive System
  1. Genital herpes
  2. Genital warts
  3. AIDS
  4. Hepatitis B
  5. Hepatitis C, less efficiently
Genital Herpes
  • Herpes simplex
    • Exists as two distinct antigenic forms, HSV-1 and 2
      1. HSV-1
        • 5-30% of herpes infections are type 1
        • Type 1 has fewer clinical recurrences
        • It is primarily transmitted by nonveneral routes following contact with infected saliva and causes common cold sores and gingivostomatitis
      2. HSV-2
        • Usually transmitted venereally or maternally to newborn infants
        • Primarily responsible for genital herpes and neonatal infections
        • Linked epidemiologically to cervical cancer
  • However, the often quoted rule of "above the waist, HSV-1; below the waist, HSV-2" is not true
    • 20% of genital herpes is due to HSV-1
    • HSV-2 can cause oropharyngeal infections
HSV-1 and HSV-2
  • Viruses may go latent and then recur
  • Disease may be transmitted in absence of lesions
  • There is no cure, although treatment manages outbreaks
Neonatal Herpes
  • Virus crosses placental barrier
  • Result can be abortion or serious fetal damage
    • Herpes is especially deadly to developing fetus, if mother acquires her first infection during pregnancy
    • Women whose latent herpes resurfaces during pregnancy can avoid infecting their babies by having a Cesarean section rather than a vaginal delivery
Genital Warts
  • Papillomaviruses
  • Association with cervical and penile cancer
AIDS
  • Any lesion from any other STD will dramatically increase the likelihood of transmission of the HIV
    • Because organism requires blood/body fluid for transmission
  • Frequently diagnosed after decrease in T lymphocytes causes opportunistic types of infections
Hepatitis B
  • Type A, B, and C are all sexually transmitted diseases caused by different viruses that are also transmitted through non-STD routes as well
  • Type B is the most easily sexually transmittable disease and both hepatitis A and B are preventable
  • Transmission: Type A is fecal-oral; Type B is body fluid contact; Type C is body fluid contact
  • Symptoms: Malaise, jaundice; liver failure with B and C
  • Treatment: A generally runs its course; there is no cure, and outcome varies by individual for Type B and C

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