All Posts Tagged With: "human"

Bacterial pathogens are ubiquitous in soil and water – concurrently so are free-living helminths that feed on bacteria. These helminths fall into two categories; the non-parasitic and the parasitic. The former have been the focus of previous work, finding that bacterial pathogens inside helminths are conferred survival advantages over and above bacteria alone in the environment, and that accidental ingestion of non-parasitic helminths can cause systemic infection in vertebrate hosts. Here, we determine the potential for bacteria to be associated with parasitic helminths. After culturing helminths from fecal samples obtained from livestock the external bacteria were removed. Two-hundred parasitic helminths from three different species were homogenised and the bacteria that were internal to the helminths were isolated and cultured. Eleven different bacterial isolates were found; of which eight were indentified. The bacteria identified included known human and cattle pathogens. We concluded that bacteria of livestock can be isolated in parasitic helminths and that this suggests a mechanism by which bacteria, pathogenic or otherwise, can be transmitted between individuals. Continued

Human leptospirosis can be a difficult infection to describe, as the
symptoms can vary dramatically between patients. Some symptoms are
extremely common, but only a small number of patients will experience
the severe life-threatening illness known as Weil’s disease. The
severity of the infection depends on the age and general health of the
patient, plus the serovar (strain) of bacteria involved and the number
of bacteria that entered the patient’s body. Continued