Vibrio vulnificus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
| Vibrio vulnificus | ||||||||||||||
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| Vibrio vulnificus (Reichelt et al. 1979) Farmer 1980 |
Vibrio vulnificus is a rod-shaped bacterium of the genus Vibrio present in marine or freshwater environments such as estuaries, brackish ponds, or coastal areas.
It causes an infection often incurred after eating seafood, especially shellfish. The bacteria can also enter the body through open wounds when swimming or wading. Symptoms include diarrhea and a blistering dermatitis that is sometimes mistaken for pemphigus or pemphigoid. Severe symptoms and even death can occur if the bacterium enters the bloodstream—something more common in people with compromised immune systems. [1]
There are people who are especially vulnerable, including those with immunocompromised state (human immunodeficiency virus, cancer, bone marrow suppression, achlorhydria (decreased gastric acid production), and diabetes), end-stage renal impairment, liver impairment (particularly cirrhosis)[2], and haemochromatosis[3].
V. vulnificus also disproportionately affects males, with 85% of those developing endotoxic shock from the bacteria being male. Females who had a gonadectomy experienced increased mortality rates. Estrogen is believed to provide protection against V. vulnificus.[4]
When caught early, the infection can be treated with antibiotics, e.g. doxycycline. In the case of wound infection by V. vulnificus, some patients require amputation to stop the disease from spreading. [5]
References
- ^ “Vibrio vulnificus.” NCBI Genome Project. Accessed on 2005-09-01.
- ^ Kizer KW (1994). Vibrio vulnificus hazard in patients with liver disease, Western Journal of Medicine, 161(1): 64-5 PMID 7941517
- ^ Bullen JJ, Spalding PB, Ward CG, Gutteridge JM (1994). Hemochromatosis, iron and septicemia caused by Vibrio vulnificus, Archives of Internal Medicine, 151(8): 1606-9 PMID 1872665
- ^ Merkel SM, Alexander S, Zufall E, Oliver JD, Huet-Hudson YM (2001). Essential Role for Estrogen in Protection against Vibrio vulnificus-Induced Endotoxic Shock, Infection and Immunity, 69(10): 6119–22 PMID 11553550
- ^ Linder K, Oliver JD (1989). Membrane fatty acid and virulence changes in the viable but nonculturable state of Vibrio vulnificus, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 55(11): 2837-42 PMID 2696428
