Chlamydia Trachomatis Essay -- Essays Papers

Chlamydia Trachomatis Introduction: Chlamydia Trachomatis is the organism responsible for diseases such as trachoma and the STD Chlamydia. Chlamydia is the most common STD in the United States, with about 4 million new cases diagnosed every year. The Organism & it’s Life Cycle: Chlamydia are obligate intracellular parasites, and are among the smallest living organisms. There are two stages in the life of Chlamydia: elementary bodies and reticulate bodies. Another feature of Chlamydia is that they are unable to synthesize their own energy (ATP) and are completely dependent on their host for energy. The organism is in the elementary stage of its life when it encounters its host and is taken up by phagocytosis. It prevents the fusion of the phagosome and lysosome; this is what normally kills pathogens. Once the phagolysosome formation is stopped, the bacteria secrete glycogen and transform into the reticulate body. Reticulate bodies obtain their energy by sending forth â€Å"straw-like† structures into the host cell cytoplasm, and they divide by binary fission. Each phagolysosome produces about 100-1000 reticulate bodies. Virulence Factors: The cell wall of Chlamydia has been characterized as gram negative with a notable difference: it lacks muramic acid that is found in the cell walls of most other bacteria. This makes Chlamydia resistant to _-lactam antibiotics such as penicillin, because such antibiotics disrupt the â€Å"typical† cell wall, which includes muramic acid. Being gram-negative, it also contains LPS, which helps cause damage to the host’s body(mainly due to the host’s immune response). Once inside the host, chlamydia bind sialic acid receptors, which are usually found in mucous-rich environments. Antigenic variation is ... ...nant women and neonates (that are infected with Chlamydia), erythromycin is the drug of choice. Chlamydia may be difficult to completely eradicate, but in the past few years, the incidence rates have been steady, and with planning and spreading information about it, we can attack the overwhelming incidence rate and curb the spread of Chlamydia. References: 1) University of Wisconsin. http://www.bact.wisc.edu/Bact330/lecturechlamydia 2) CDC. Recommendations for the Prevention and Management of Chlamydia trachomatis Infections, 1993 http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00021622.htm 3) Schaechter, Engleberg, Eisenstein, and Gerald Medoff (1999). Mechanisms of Microbial Disease. Third Edition. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, Philadelphia. 4) MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001345.htm