Lemierre's syndrome is infectious thrombophlebitis of the internal jugular vein. It most often develops as a complication of a bacterial sore throat infection in young, otherwise healthy adults. The thrombophlebitis is a serious condition and may lead to further systemic complications such as bacteria in the blood or septic emboli.
Fusobacterium is a genus of obligate anaerobic, Gram-negative, non-sporeforming bacteria belonging to Gracilicutes. Individual cells are slender, rod-shaped bacilli with pointed ends. Fusobacterium was discovered in 1900 by Courmont and Cade and is common in the flora of humans.
Nocardiosis is an infectious disease affecting either the lungs or the whole body. It is due to infection by a bacterium of the genus Nocardia, most commonly Nocardia asteroides or Nocardia brasiliensis.
Mastoiditis is the result of an infection that extends to the air cells of the skull behind the ear. Specifically, it is an inflammation of the mucosal lining of the mastoid antrum and mastoid air cell system inside the mastoid process. The mastoid process is the portion of the temporal bone of the skull that is behind the ear. The mastoid process contains open, air-containing spaces. Mastoiditis is usually caused by untreated acute otitis media and used to be a leading cause of child mortality. With the development of antibiotics, however, mastoiditis has become quite rare in developed countries where surgical treatment is now much less frequent and more conservative, unlike former times.
Lung abscess is a type of liquefactive necrosis of the lung tissue and formation of cavities containing necrotic debris or fluid caused by microbial infection.
Peptostreptococcus is a genus of anaerobic, Gram-positive, non-spore forming bacteria. The cells are small, spherical, and can occur in short chains, in pairs or individually. They typically move using cilia. Peptostreptococcus are slow-growing bacteria with increasing resistance to antimicrobial drugs. Peptostreptococcus is a normal inhabitant of the healthy lower reproductive tract of women.
Meningoencephalitis, also known as herpes meningoencephalitis, is a medical condition that simultaneously resembles both meningitis, which is an infection or inflammation of the meninges, and encephalitis, which is an infection or inflammation of the brain tissue.
Ventriculitis is the inflammation of the ventricles in the brain. The ventricles are responsible for containing and circulating cerebrospinal fluid throughout the brain. Ventriculitis is caused by infection of the ventricles, leading to swelling and inflammation. This is especially prevalent in patients with external ventricular drains and intraventricular stents. Ventriculitis can cause a wide variety of short-term symptoms and long-term side effects ranging from headaches and dizziness to unconsciousness and death if not treated early. It is treated with some appropriate combination of antibiotics in order to rid the patient of the underlying infection. Much of the current research involving ventriculitis focuses specifically around defining the disease and what causes it. This will allow for much more advancement in the subject. There is also a lot of attention being paid to possible treatments and prevention methods to help make this disease even less prevalent and dangerous.
Bacteroides is a genus of Gram-negative, obligate anaerobic bacteria. Bacteroides species are non endospore-forming bacilli, and may be either motile or nonmotile, depending on the species. The DNA base composition is 40–48% GC. Unusual in bacterial organisms, Bacteroides membranes contain sphingolipids. They also contain meso-diaminopimelic acid in their peptidoglycan layer.
Cavernous sinus thrombosis (CST) is the formation of a blood clot within the cavernous sinus, a cavity at the base of the brain which drains deoxygenated blood from the brain back to the heart. This is a rare disorder and can be of two types–septic cavernous thrombosis and aseptic cavernous thrombosis. The most common form is septic cavernous sinus thrombosis. The cause is usually from a spreading infection in the nose, sinuses, ears, or teeth. Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus are often the associated bacteria.
Orbital cellulitis is inflammation of eye tissues behind the orbital septum. It is most commonly caused by an acute spread of infection into the eye socket from either the adjacent sinuses or through the blood. It may also occur after trauma. When it affects the rear of the eye, it is known as retro-orbital cellulitis.
A cerebral shunt is a device permanently implanted inside the head and body to drain excess fluid away from the brain. They are commonly used to treat hydrocephalus, the swelling of the brain due to excess buildup of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). If left unchecked, the excess CSF can lead to an increase in intracranial pressure (ICP), which can cause intracranial hematoma, cerebral edema, crushed brain tissue or herniation. The drainage provided by a shunt can alleviate or prevent these problems in patients with hydrocephalus or related diseases.
Prevotella is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria.
Amoebic brain abscess is an affliction caused by the anaerobic parasitic protist Entamoeba histolytica. It is extremely rare; the first case being reported in 1849. Brain abscesses resulting from Entamoeba histolytica are difficult to diagnose and very few case reports suggest complete recovery even after the administration of appropriate treatment regimen.
Acute infectious thyroiditis (AIT) also known as suppurative thyroiditis, microbial inflammatory thyroiditis, pyrogenic thyroiditis and bacterial thyroiditis.
Anaerobic infections are caused by anaerobic bacteria. Obligately anaerobic bacteria do not grow on solid media in room air ; facultatively anaerobic bacteria can grow in the presence or absence of air. Microaerophilic bacteria do not grow at all aerobically or grow poorly, but grow better under 10% carbon dioxide or anaerobically. Anaerobic bacteria can be divided into strict anaerobes that can not grow in the presence of more than 0.5% oxygen and moderate anaerobic bacteria that are able of growing between 2 and 8% oxygen. Anaerobic bacteria usually do not possess catalase, but some can generate superoxide dismutase which protects them from oxygen.
Infections caused by exposure to ionizing radiation can be extremely dangerous, and are of public and government concern. Numerous studies have demonstrated that the susceptibility of organisms to systemic infection increased following exposure to ionizing radiation. The risk of systemic infection is higher when the organism has a combined injury, such as a conventional blast, thermal burn, or radiation burn. There is a direct quantitative relationship between the magnitude of the neutropenia that develops after exposure to radiation and the increased risk of developing infection. Because no controlled studies of therapeutic intervention in humans are available, almost all of the current information is based on animal research.
Nocardia farcinica is a species of bacteria, once thought to be associated with farcy, and a member of the genus Nocardia. This species is very similar in phenotype to Nocardia asteroides, to the degree that some isolates of N. asteroides were later found to be Nocardia farcinica.
An infectious intracranial aneurysm is a cerebral aneurysm that is caused by infection of the cerebral arterial wall.
Chronic meningitis is a long-lasting inflammation of the membranes lining the brain and spinal cord. By definition, the duration of signs, symptoms and inflammation in chronic meningitis last longer than 4 weeks. Infectious causes are a leading cause and the infectious organisms responsible for chronic meningitis are different than the organisms that cause acute infectious meningitis. Tuberculosis and the fungi cryptococcus are leading causes worldwide. Chronic meningitis due to infectious causes are more common in those who are immunosuppressed, including those with HIV infection or in children who are malnourished. Chronic meningitis sometimes has a more insidious course than acute meningitis. Also, some of the infectious agents that cause chronic infectious meningitis such as mycobacterium tuberculosis, many fungal species and viruses are difficult to isolate from the cerebrospinal fluid making diagnosis challenging. No cause is identified during initial evaluation in one third of cases. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain is more sensitive than computed tomography and may show radiological signs that suggest chronic meningitis, however no radiological signs are considered pathognomonic or characteristic. MRI is also normal in many cases further limiting its diagnostic utility.
