How Bacteria Cause Disease
Keith Struthers in Clinical Microbiology, 2017
Eight exogenous bacteria are named, but they have different relationships with the body. Pasteurella multocida is a member of the endogenous bacterial flora in the mouth of cats, dogs and other animals. It can cause local, invasive disease and sepsis in the person who sustains a bite from an animal. Apart from Legionella, derived from water sources, and Pasteurella, the others can ‘colonize’ a site of the body. Mycobacterium tuberculosis can be considered an ‘immunologically controlled’ exogenous organism, considering that one-third of the world's population is infected, but in the vast majority, its reproduction is prevented by cell-mediated immunity. When this immunity is compromised, for example by the acquired immunosuppression of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, the organism will reproduce to cause disease.
Benzylpenicillin (Penicillin G)
M. Lindsay Grayson, Sara E. Cosgrove, Suzanne M. Crowe, M. Lindsay Grayson, William Hope, James S. McCarthy, John Mills, Johan W. Mouton, David L. Paterson in Kucers’ The Use of Antibiotics, 2017
Pasteurella multocida may cause wound infections after animal bites, such as those inflicted by dogs and cats. However, other organisms, such as various types of staphylococci, alpha-hemolytic streptococci Capnocytophaga, and anaerobic bacteria, may also cause infections after animal bites (Goldstein, 1992). Less commonly, Pasteurella multocida causes septic arthritis, osteomyelitis, septicemia, meningitis, endocarditis, puerperal sepsis, renal infection, acute epiglottitis, or pleuropulmonary infections (Johnson and Rumans, 1977; Lehmann et al., 1977; Mitchell et al., 1982; Raffi et al., 1987; Kumar et al., 1990; Leung and Jassal, 1994). Septicemia is more likely to occur in patients with severe underlying diseases, such as advanced hepatic disease or neoplasms (Stein et al., 1983). Pasteurella multocida infection of a prosthetic vascular graft has been reported (Kalish and Sands, 1983). Pen G is indicated for all of these infections, as this Gram-negative bacillus is usually highly sensitive to Pen G (Weber et al., 1984). Resistant strains occur, but are very rare.
Hand Infections
Dorian Hobday, Ted Welman, Maxim D. Horwitz, Gurjinderpal Singh Pahal in Plastic Surgery for Trauma, 2022
Cat bites, although only responsible for 5% of animal bites, make up around 75% of those that get infected due to the long thin teeth causing puncture wounds and ‘injecting’ bacteria to a deep level in the tissues [k]. Infective organisms found are similar to those in dog bites with the addition of Pasteurella multocida. The wounds are generally small and closed on presentation in the emergency department but even if they appear uninfected (in the case of a recent bite), it is essential to debride the wound edges and irrigate the wound copiously. Wounds should be left open or ideally splinted open with an antimicrobial wick to allow free drainage of any residual infection. Again, the patient will require splinting, elevation, antibiotics and should be admitted for monitoring.
A bite difficult to heal: Pasteurella multocida induced decompensated hepatic cirrhosis
Published in Journal of Community Hospital Internal Medicine Perspectives, 2021
Hiren Patel, Nirali Patel, Harsh Patel, Robert Dobbin Chow
Multiple studies conclude that P. multocida–related infections are primarily acquired through contact with animals and in particular household pets [4–7]. A review conducted at a tertiary care hospital in Greece of 13 cases of Pasteurella-induced infections found that the majority of cases were soft tissue and respiratory infections in nature, such as pneumonia and tracheobronchitis [19]. Another analysis of 34 case reports concluded that the most common infectious process was soft tissue infection, followed by respiratory and abdominal infections [1]. Giordano et al. reported 44 patients at a single center with Pasteurella multocida infection, in which 25 were infected via animal bites and no bites were reported in the remainder of the patients [20]. In that series, skin and soft tissue infections were once again predominant, followed by bloodstream and respiratory infections [20]. Other case reports detail rare sequelae of P. multocida infection, including endocarditis, meningitis, and septic shock [1,7–12,21,22].
‘Non-zoonotic’ pasteurella multocida infection in an immunocompromised patient
Published in Journal of Community Hospital Internal Medicine Perspectives, 2018
Beenish Fayyaz
Our case highlights an unusual presentation of PM infection in addition to highlighting several learning points. First, contrary to the common belief, Pasteurella multocida can cause ‘non-zoonotic’ infections in humans. This is especially true for individuals who are immunocompromised. Second, the pathogen can be misidentified on gram-staining of fluid/tissue. Last, once identified on cultures, prompt antibiotic therapy with susceptibility testing should be pursued to improve outcomes on these potentially fatal infections.
Variability in in vitro biofilm production and antimicrobial sensitivity pattern among Pasteurella multocida strains
Published in Biofouling, 2020
Awadhesh Prajapati, Mohammed Mudassar Chanda, Arul Dhayalan, Revanaiah Yogisharadhya, Jitendra Kumar Chaudhary, Nihar Nalini Mohanty, Sathish Bhadravati Shivachandra
Pasteurella multocida, a Gram-negative bacterium belonging to the family Pasteurellaceae, is an important multi-host as well as a zoonotic pathogen that is capable of causing either chronic respiratory or multi-systemic acute/peracute diseases such as pneumonic/septicaemic pasteurellosis in sheep and goats, haemorrhagic septicaemia (HS) in bovines, atrophic rhinitis in pigs, fowl cholera in poultry, snuffles in rabbits and localized wound infection in humans (Harper et al. 2006; Shivachandra et al. 2011). The microorganism, with 5 capsular serogroups (A, B, D, E and F) and 16 somatic serotypes (1 to 16) (Carter 1955; Heddleston et al. 1972; Harper and Boyce 2017; Astorga et al. 2019), is known to possess different virulence factors which are believed to play an important role in the pathogenesis of pasteurellosis. Although, numerous virulence factors of P. multocida have been identified and characterized (Hatfaludi et al. 2010; Wilson and Ho 2013; Peng et al. 2019), a large number of uncharacterized features/factors still remain to be investigated. In an epidemiological perspective, understanding the pathogenesis and differentiation of P. multocida strains have largely relied on several conventional/molecular tools such as biotyping, antimicrobial sensitivity patterns, target gene sequencing and nucleic acid based/PCR assays (Shivachandra et al. 2013; 2014; 2017; Yogisharadhya et al. 2019; Prajapati et al. 2020; Sundarraj et al. 2020). Although, several of these tools indicated greater genetic homogeneity and/or heterogeneity of strains within the family, there are no studies correlating with the pathogenesis of disease form/type/host species. A phenotypic-based differentiation of circulating strains along with their correlation with disease is likely to enhance the understanding of pathogenesis and disease control. Among various virulence mechanisms adopted by diverse P. multocida strains, the role of biofilm formation is an interesting factor to elucidate in the infectious process.
Related Knowledge Centers
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- Microbiota
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- Serotype
- Zoonosis
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