What kind of bacteria is Corynebacterium diphtheriae?
Structure, Classification, and Antigenic Types Corynebacterium diphtheriae is a Gram-positive nonmotile, club-shaped bacillus. Strains growing in tissue, or older cultures in vitro, contain thin spots in their cell walls that allow decolorization during the Gram stain and result in a Gram-variable reaction.
How do you identify Corynebacterium diphtheriae?
To accurately identify C. diphtheriae, a Gram stain is performed to show Gram-positive, highly pleomorphic organisms with no particular arrangement. Special stains like Albert’s stain and Ponder’s stain are used to demonstrate the metachromatic granules formed in the polar regions.
What is the classification of diphtheria?
There are two types of diphtheria: respiratory and cutaneous. Respiratory diphtheria involves the nose, throat and tonsils, and cutaneous diphtheria involves the skin. Cutaneous diphtheria is discussed below.
Is Corynebacterium aerobic or anaerobic?
Corynebacteria (from the Greek words koryne, meaning club, and bacterion, meaning little rod) are gram-positive, catalase-positive, aerobic or facultatively anaerobic, generally nonmotile rods.
Is Corynebacterium diphtheriae normal flora?
Some Corynebacteria are part of the normal flora of humans, finding a suitable niche in virtually every anatomic site, especially the skin and nares. The best known and most widely studied species is Corynebacterium diphtheriae, the causal agent of the disease diphtheria.
What is the habitat of Corynebacterium diphtheriae?
Habitat. Corynebacterium species occur commonly in nature in soil, water, plants, and food products. The nondiphtheiroid Corynebacterium species can even be found in the mucosa and normal skin flora of humans and animals.
What are the two things Corynebacterium diphtheriae is named after?
Diphtheria is an acute, bacterial disease caused by toxin-producing strains of Corynebacterium diphtheriae. The name of the disease is derived from the Greek diphthera, meaning ‘leather hide.
What Agar is for Corynebacterium diphtheriae?
C. diphtheriae grows well on blood agar, but tellurite blood agar (Hoyle’s medium) is recommended as this inhibits other respiratory flora and allows the characteristic colonial morphology of the three biotypes (gravis, intermedius and mitis) to develop.
Does Corynebacterium diphtheriae grow on MacConkey Agar?
To diagnose the Corynebacterium species, samples include pus, exudate, affected tissues and urine. The presence of coryneform organisms in smears is diagnostic. Culture on blood agar, selective blood agar and MacConkey agar are also diagnostic, they do not grow on MacConkey.
What does Corynebacterium diphtheriae do?
Diphtheria is a serious infection caused by strains of bacteria called Corynebacterium diphtheriae that make toxin (poison). It can lead to difficulty breathing, heart failure, paralysis, and even death. CDC recommends vaccines for infants, children, teens, and adults to prevent diphtheria.
Is Corynebacterium diphtheriae capsulated?
Corynebacterium diphtheria is anaerobic, Gram-positive, non-motile, non-spore-forming, non-capsulated, toxin-producing, pleomorphic coccobacillus, which is usually club-shaped. Based on biochemical properties and colony morphology, it has four biotypes, namely, gravis, mitis, intermedius, and belfanti.
What bacteria causes diphtheria?
A sore throat
How do you catch diphtheria?
– droplets breathed out into the air. – secretions from the nose and throat, such as mucus and saliva. – infected skin lesions. – objects, such as bedding or clothes an infected person has used, in rare cases.
Which statement about diphtheria is accurate?
Diphtheria is an infection caused by strains of bacteria called Corynebacterium diphtheriae that make toxin. Diphtheria spreads from person to person, usually through respiratory droplets, like from coughing or sneezing. It can also spread by touching open sores or ulcers of someone with a diphtheria skin infection.
How do you treat Corynebacterium UTI?
How do you treat Corynebacterium UTI? Antibiotics are the treatment of choice for nondiphtherial corynebacteria infections. Many species and groups are sensitive to various antibiotics, including penicillins, macrolide antibiotics, rifampin, and fluoroquinolones. However, antibiotic susceptibility can vary, and susceptibility testing is