BIOL 2P98 Lecture 18: Strep and Staph
8 Aug 2015
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An unexplained proliferation of seven cases around the city of gloucester had the british press predicting an epidemic, and british public health officials had to fight to bring the panic under control. This bacteria, medically known as streptococcus pyogenes or group a streptococcus, has been made famous in recent times by media reports of a flesh-eating bacteria which claims the lives of up to 25% of its victims. Streptococci are essential in industrial and dairy processes and as indicators of pollution: the bacteria was identified as early as 1884 from patients with skin infections. It is identifiable as a spherical cell 0. 6-1. 0 um in diameter and occurs as pairs or as short chains in clinical specimens. Diagnosis is made clinically and on isolation of the bacteria from a throat swab: scarlet fever, this disease results from the release of toxic substances by streptococcus pyogenes.
