TMA2 Sibel Akoglu 05/04/12 1.A)Kochs Postulates 1.

The micro organism is present in every case, and at all sites, of the disease.
2. The micro organism can be isolated from the diseased host and be grown in pure culture (i.e. free of any other microbe) on artificial media. 3. A sample of the pure microbial culture is introduced into a suitable experimental animal and symptoms of the disease occur in this new host. 4. The micro organism can be recovered from disease lesions in this experimental host animal.

B)Treponema pallidum pallidum cannot survive outside of mammalian cells and therefore cannot be
cultured in a lab, which fails to satisfy Kochs postulate 2. Streptococcus pyogenes when inoculated in to a an experimental host can cause a different diseases and symptoms to occur in the new host therefore failing to satisfy postulate 3

Pneumonia is caused by many different microbes so one specific micro organism is not present in every case thus failing to satisfy postulate 1. C) Haemophilus Influenzae ( a bacterium) was first mistaken for Influenza (a virus) by Richard Pfeiffer, during a pandemic in the 1890s. Because Influenza did not satisfy Kochs postulate number 2; it could not be grown on artificial media, unlike the samples of H.Influenzae taken from those killed during the pandemic, that were able to be cultivated and were regularly found present in cases of Influenza, thus H.Influenzae was mistaken for the causative agent of influenza, when in reality it was just an opportunistic secondary condition. 2.A) Antigenic Drift Antigenic drift in a virus such as Influenza occurs when the genes of the antigenic glycoprotiens hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) mutate. When these changes occur it is now possible for the virus to evade the immune system. As more mutations accumulate over time, the virus drifts away from its previous strains.

Image from Microblog 2008

Antigenic shift Antigenic shift occurs when two or more types of a virus from different species combine to make a new strain. This combination results in an exchange of HA and a new strain of virus to which a hosts immunity has not experienced before and as a consequence cannot fight the infection as efficiently as it could a familiar virus.

Image from Microblog 2008

Using Influenza as an example antigenic drift has the most successful impact on health; The minor but frequent rearrangement of and mutation of genes allows the virus to evade the immune system and cause repetitive outbreaks of influenza. Where as antigenic shift is rare. However there have been many concerns involving antigenic shift. For example; the 2003 outbreak of the H5N1 virus spread through Asia via infected birds to humans. Whilst the consequences involved serious disease in humans, the virus had not evolved to transmit easily through human to human contact and thus a pandemic did not occur. Once this strain encounters easier transmission via human hosts, the pandemic potential is much greater. Word count: 230

3A) Because the host experiences different stages of the disease during each stage of the plasmodiums life cycle, It is important to recognise and be knowledgeable on the life cycles of the plasmodium because different stages require different treatment. B) The following technique of microscopy is one of the simplest and low cost diagnostic test available for the detection of Malaria: The patients finger is pricked to release a blood sample, two samples will be placed at both ends of one microscope slide : one sample will be thick and compromised of several drops of bloods and the other will be a thin smear of blood, both samples will be covered in a thick film. In order to detect plasmodium in the thick blood sample the blood needs to be air dried and stained with Giemsa. Staining will show the empty cell membranes which will allow us to see the plasmodium clearly. Though the thin samples take around ten times as long to examine compared to the thick , they provide a much clearer view of plasmodium. The process of examining the thin sample is much the same the thick as it will also be stained by Giemsa, however the blood will fixed to the slide by heating and instead acts mainly on the white blood cells, turning their nuclei blue and their cytoplasm pinkish. C) Malaria prevention/treatment methods: insecticide-treated mosquito nets and indoor residual spraying of insecticides . These methods are a form of vector control and in comparison to costly medical prevention have proved very affective against Malaria. Because mosquitoes typically bite from dusk til dawn the insecticide treated nets are used to cover sleeping areas. The added defences of the insecticide kills any mosquitoes that land on it and repel any remaining. Until a few years ago these nets required a re-treatment every six months to maintain effectiveness however now the new improved nets can maintain their effectiveness through at least twenty washes. The use of a mosquito net alone has been shown to reduce all-cause mortality in children under 5 by about 20 percent and malarial illnesses among children under 5 and pregnant women by up to 50 percent. ( PMI 2009) Indoor residential spraying involves the coordinated, timely spraying of the interior walls of homes with insecticides. Mosquitoes are killed when they rest on those walls. Whilst IRS has been proven to be a valuable prevention method, developing areas with poor housing conditions such as badly constructed roofs and lack of physical doors lower its effectiveness in these situations. (Online University 2011) D) insecticide treated nets and indoor residential spraying of insecticides act in the sporogenic cycle of the mosquito vector, killing the mosquito before it has too many chances to infect a human host. 4A) an estimated 69 percent of Controls drank untreated water compared to an estimated 83 percent of cholera patients. Whilst a high percentage of patients had drank dirty water if this was the only source we would surely see patient percentages rise to 100 percent if they had all drank from the same water supply. However if there were different dirty water supplies available, it suggests that one source of cholera was from untreated water and the remaining 17 percent of infections were from another source. B) After working out the percentages all behaviours in cholera patients it appears that a combination of : poor hygiene (46%) untreated water(83%) and water drank out of the home (73%) are the most associated behaviours in cholera infection. C) The table suggests that education on cholera has not proved as effective as it should, with over half of patients not being aware of prevention methods and the other 42% still being infected, yet claiming to know prevention methods. D) risks of contracting cholera from cooking rice at home and eating raw or undercooked seafood , prepared at home. The causative bacterium of cholera (vibrio cholerae) doesnt just have human hosts, it can frequently be found in its natural aquatic environment such as oceans, lakes, rivers, estuaries and brackish water . Here the bacterium can be found present in many creatures; many crustacea and the intestine of filter feeding shell fish . While some of these species that provide this natural reservoir V. cholerae can be consumed by humans, larger fish that ingest them pose a particular risk when consumed by humans. For endemic areas it is crucial to cook all food properly and maintain a good standard of hygiene to prevent contamination. When observing table 1, home prepared rice and seafood appear to pose almost equal risks; 66% of patients didnt have home prepared seafood and 58% didnt have rice. These percentages are over half and higher than the percentage of cholera suffers that did consume home prepared goods.

References

Antigen Shift vs Antigenic Drift | MicrobLog: Microbiology Training. 2012.Antigen Shift vs Antigenic Drift | MicrobLog: Microbiology Training. [ONLINE] Available at: http://microblog.me.uk/142. [Accessed 05 April 2012].

The President's Malaria Initiative, Technical Areas, Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS). 2012. The President's Malaria Initiative, Technical Areas, Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS). [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.pmi.gov/technical/irs/index.html. [Accessed 05 April 2012].

Malaria Prevention and Treatment | Online University. 2012. Malaria Prevention and Treatment | Online University. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.onlineuniversity.net/healthcare/malaria-prevention-and-treatment/. [Accessed 05 April 2012