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Vibrio vulnificus

 

 
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Vibrio vulnificus
 
 
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Vibrio vulnificus is a species of Gram-negative
Gram-negative

Gram-negative bacteria are those bacteria that do not retain crystal violet dye in the Gram staining protocol. In a Gram stain test, a counterstain is added after the crystal violet, coloring all Gram-negative bacteria with a red or pink color....
, motile, curved, rod-shaped bacteria in the genus Vibrio
Vibrio

Vibrio is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria possessing a curved rod shape. Typically found in Seawater, Vibrio are Facultative anaerobic organism that test positive for oxidase and do not form spores....
. Present in marine environments such as estuaries
Estuary

An estuary is a semi-enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
, brackish ponds, or coastal areas, V. vulnificus is closely related to V. cholerae
Vibrio cholerae

Vibrio cholerae is a motile gram negative curved-rod shaped bacterium with a polar flagellum that causes cholera in humans. V. cholerae and other species of the genus Vibrio belong to the gamma subdivision of the Proteobacteria....
, the causative agent of cholera
Cholera

Cholera, sometimes known as Asiatic or epidemic cholera, is an infectious gastroenteritis caused by enterotoxin-producing strains of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae....
.,

ibrio vulnificus causes an infection often incurred after eating seafood
Seafood

Seafood is any aquatic animal that is served as food and eaten by humans. Seafoods include fish and shellfish .The harvesting of seafood is known as fishing and the cultivation and farming of seafood is known as aquaculture, mariculture, or in the case of fish, fish farming....
, especially oysters; the bacteria can also enter the body through open wound
Wound

In medicine, a wound is a type of injury in which the skin is torn, cut or punctured , or where blunt force physical trauma causes a bruise . In pathology, it specifically refers to a sharp injury which damages the dermis of the skin....
s when swimming or wading in infected waters, or via puncture wounds from the spines of fish such as tilapia
Tilapia

'Tilapia' is the Common name#Biological common names for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the tilapiine cichlid tribe . Tilapias inhabit a variety of fresh water and, less commonly, brackish water habitats from shallow streams and ponds through to rivers, lakes, and estuaries....
.






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Encyclopedia


Vibrio vulnificus is a species of Gram-negative
Gram-negative

Gram-negative bacteria are those bacteria that do not retain crystal violet dye in the Gram staining protocol. In a Gram stain test, a counterstain is added after the crystal violet, coloring all Gram-negative bacteria with a red or pink color....
, motile, curved, rod-shaped bacteria in the genus Vibrio
Vibrio

Vibrio is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria possessing a curved rod shape. Typically found in Seawater, Vibrio are Facultative anaerobic organism that test positive for oxidase and do not form spores....
. Present in marine environments such as estuaries
Estuary

An estuary is a semi-enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
, brackish ponds, or coastal areas, V. vulnificus is closely related to V. cholerae
Vibrio cholerae

Vibrio cholerae is a motile gram negative curved-rod shaped bacterium with a polar flagellum that causes cholera in humans. V. cholerae and other species of the genus Vibrio belong to the gamma subdivision of the Proteobacteria....
, the causative agent of cholera
Cholera

Cholera, sometimes known as Asiatic or epidemic cholera, is an infectious gastroenteritis caused by enterotoxin-producing strains of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae....
.,

Clinical features

Vibrio vulnificus causes an infection often incurred after eating seafood
Seafood

Seafood is any aquatic animal that is served as food and eaten by humans. Seafoods include fish and shellfish .The harvesting of seafood is known as fishing and the cultivation and farming of seafood is known as aquaculture, mariculture, or in the case of fish, fish farming....
, especially oysters; the bacteria can also enter the body through open wound
Wound

In medicine, a wound is a type of injury in which the skin is torn, cut or punctured , or where blunt force physical trauma causes a bruise . In pathology, it specifically refers to a sharp injury which damages the dermis of the skin....
s when swimming or wading in infected waters, or via puncture wounds from the spines of fish such as tilapia
Tilapia

'Tilapia' is the Common name#Biological common names for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the tilapiine cichlid tribe . Tilapias inhabit a variety of fresh water and, less commonly, brackish water habitats from shallow streams and ponds through to rivers, lakes, and estuaries....
. Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea
Diarrhea

In medicine, diarrhea, also spelled diarrhoea , is characterized by frequent loose or liquid bowel movements. The spelling of "diarrhea" is an appropriation of the Greek "diarrhoia" meaning "a flowing through." ....
, abdominal pain, and a blister
Blister

A blister is a small pocket of fluid within the upper layers of the skin, typically caused by forceful rubbing , burning, freezing, chemical exposure or infection....
ing dermatitis
Dermatitis

Dermatitis is a blanket term meaning any "inflammation of the skin" . There are several different types of dermatitis. The different kinds usually have in common an allergic reaction to specific allergens....
 that is sometimes mistaken for pemphigus
Pemphigus

Pemphigus is a rare group of autoimmune blistering diseases that affect the skin and mucous membranes.In pemphigus, autoantibody form against desmoglein....
 or pemphigoid
Pemphigoid

Pemphigoid is a group of uncommon and rare autoimmune blistering skin diseases. As its name indicates, pemphigoid is similar to pemphigus, but unlike pemphigus, pemphigoid does not feature acantholysis....
. Severe symptoms and even death can occur if the bacterium enters the blood
Blood

Blood is a specialized bodily fluid that delivers necessary substances to the body's Cell s ? such as nutrients and oxygen ? and transports waste products away from those same cells....
stream—something more common in people with compromised immune system
Immune system

An immune system is a collection of biological processes within an organism that protects against disease by identifying and killing pathogens and tumour cells....
s or liver disease.

Treatment

Vibrio vulnificus infection has a mortality rate of 50% with the majority of patients dying within the first 48 hours of infection. The optimal treatment is not known, but in one retrospective study of 93 patients in Taiwan, use of a third-generation cephalosporin
Cephalosporin

The cephalosporins are a class of beta-lactam antibiotic originally derived from Acremonium, which was previously known as "Cephalosporium"....
 and a tetracycline
Tetracycline

Tetracycline is a broad-spectrum polyketide antibiotic produced by the Streptomyces genus of Actinobacteria, indicated for use against many bacterial infections....
 (e.g., ceftriaxone
Ceftriaxone

Ceftriaxone is a third-generation cephalosporin antibiotic. Like other third-generation cephalosporins, it has broad spectrum activity against Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria....
 and doxycycline
Doxycycline

Doxycycline is a member of the tetracycline antibiotics group and is commonly used to treat a variety of infections. Doxycycline is a semi-synthetic tetracycline invented and clinically developed in the early 1960s by Pfizer and marketed under the brand name Vibramycin....
) were associated with an improved outcome. Prospective clinical trials are needed to confirm this finding, but in vitro data supports the supposition that this combination is synergistic against Vibrio vulnificus.

Vibrio vulnificus often causes large, disfiguring ulcers which require extensive debridement or even amputation.

Prognosis

The worst prognosis is in those patients who arrive at hospital in a state of shock. Total mortality in treated patients is around 33%.

Those patients who are especially vulnerable, including those with immunocompromised states (cancer
Cancer

Cancer is a class of diseases in which a group of cell display uncontrolled growth , invasion , and sometimes metastasis . These three malignant properties of cancers differentiate them from benign tumors, which are self-limited, do not invade or metastasize....
, bone marrow suppression, HIV, diabetes, etc.) With these cases, V. vulnificus usually enters the bloodstream, where it may cause fever and chills, septic shock (with sharply decreased blood pressure), and blistering skin lesions. According to the CDC
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is an agency of the United States United States Department of Health and Human Services based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States adjacent to the campus of Emory University and northeast of downtown Atlanta....
, about half of those who contract blood infections die.

Vibrio vulnificus infections also disproportionately affect males; 85% of those who develop endotoxic shock from the bacteria are male. Females who have had an oophorectomy
Oophorectomy

Oophorectomy is the surgery removal of an ovary or ovaries. In the case of non-human animals, it is also called spaying and is a form of sterilization ....
 experienced increased mortality rates, as estrogen
Estrogen

Estrogens are a group of steroid compounds, named for their importance in the estrous cycle, and functioning as the primary female sex hormone....
 is believed to have a protective effect against V. vulnificus.

Historical

Health officials clearly identified strains of V. vulnificus infections among evacuees from New Orleans
Effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans

The effects of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans were shattering and long-lasting. As the center of Hurricane Katrina passed east of New Orleans, Louisiana on August 29, 2005, winds downtown were in the Category 3 range with frequent intense gusts and tidal surge....
 due to the flooding there caused by Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest Atlantic hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest, in the history of the United States....
.

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