Revised March 31, 2020 Revised March 29, 2021 and June 6, 2021 The term tuberculosis describes a broad range of clinical illnesses caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (or, less commonly, Mycobacterium bovis ). Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of death…
Both anaerobic cocci and anaerobic gram-positive nonsporulating bacilli belong to the commensal microbiota of the digestive tract, and some are members of the microbiota of the urogenital tract and skin. When the environment changes due to trauma, immunosuppression, or antimicrobial…
Overview The genera Bacteroides, Porphyromonas, Prevotella, and Fusobacterium account for most infections caused by gram-negative anaerobic rods (GNARs). Bilophila and Sutterella also cause human infections, although they are less frequently encountered in clinical practice. These obligately anaerobic gram-negative bacteria colonize…
The genus Clostridium includes over 200 described species. Members of this genus participate in a variety of invasive and toxigenic infections. They can cause disease that is strictly toxin mediated, such as antibiotic-associated colitis (AAC) and foodborne botulism, or contribute…
Botulism and tetanus result from intoxication with the protein neurotoxins elaborated by two related species of Clostridium. The toxins are very similar in structure and function but differ dramatically in their clinical effects because they target different cells in the…
History Tetanus was well known to the ancients; descriptions by Egyptian and Greek physicians survive to the present. They recognized the frequent relationship between injuries and the subsequent development of fatal spasms. Gowers provided the quintessential description of tetanus in…
Revised June 20, 2022 Reviewed for currency November 8, 2020 The administration of antibiotics can be complicated by a number of unintended consequences, among which gastrointestinal side effects are quite common. Gastrointestinal symptoms occur in up to 25% to 50%…
Anaerobic bacteria are a major component of the normal human microbiota (formerly termed the normal flora ) residing on mucous membranes and predominate in many infectious processes, particularly those arising from mucosal sites. These organisms generally cause disease after the…
Revised November, 2019 Lyme disease or Lyme borreliosis, which is caused by the tick-borne spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi (sensu lato), occurs in temperate regions of North America, Europe, and Asia. It is now the most common vector-borne disease in the United…
Relapsing fever is characterized by recurrent fevers with spirochetemia caused by organisms of the Borrelia genus. The spirochetes are broadly divided between endemic tick-borne species (tick-borne relapsing fever [TBRF]) and epidemic louse-borne species (louse-borne relapsing fever [LBRF]). TBRF occurs in…