SPIROCHAETES &

MYCOPLASMA
 SPIROCHAETES
Morphology

Elongated, motile, flexible bacteria

twisted spirally around long axis
Free living saprophyte, few obligate
parasite, aerobic, anaerobic or
facultative
Order :- Spirochaetales
Genera:- Spirochaeta, Cristispira,
Borrelia, Treponema, Leptospira
Borrelia
Large, motile, refractile spirochaetes irregular
wide & open coils
Relapsing fever Borr.recurrentis
Fusospirochaetosis - Borr.vincenti
Lyme disease- Borr.burgdoferi
Borrelia recurrentis
Cause relapsing fever
Two species based on vectors
Borrelia recurrentis borrelia of louse
Borrelia dultoni borrelia of tick
Morphology
Irregular spiral with one/both ends pointed
8-20m long, 0.2 0.4 m wide
G-ve, stained with Giemsa stain
Cultural characteristics
Strict anaerobes, opt T 28C - 30
Choriallantoic membrane of chick embryo
Noguchi medium (ascitic fluid containing rabbit
kidney)
Antigenic properties
Ag variations responsible for relapse in disease
Agglutinating, complement fixing & lytic ab
develop during Infection
Pathogenicity
Incubation period 2 10 days
Relapsing fever sudden onset (Borrelia
abundant in blood)
Subsides 3-5 days
Fever sets in 4-10 days (borrelia reappear
in blood)
Disease subsides after 3-10 relapse.
Splenomegaly, jaundice, necrotic foci in
spleen, liver & other organ.
Hemorrhagic lesion kidney, intestine,
brain & meningitis
Epidemiology
Relapsing fever transmitted by body
louse (Pediculus corporis)/ by ticks
Tick borne sporadic place disease
Lab Diagnosis
Blood giemsa stain/ Leishman stain
dark field/ phase contrast microscope
Inoculate 1-2 ml blood white mice
Agglutinins for proteus OXK ag higher
titre in louse borne relapsing fever
Prophylaxis
Prevention of louse insecticide
Identification of tick infested place
avoidance & eradication
No vaccine
Treatment
Arsenicals formerly
Antibiotics Penicillin, streptomycin
& tetracycline
Borrelia vincenti (Treponema vincenti)
Motile spirochaete, 5 20 m long & 0.2 0.6
m wide, 3- 8 coils of variable size
G ve, stained with carbol fuschin
Mouth commensal malnutrition, viral
infection ulcerative
gingiovostomatitis/orophayngitis ( Vincents
angina)
Borr vincenti + fusiform bacilli(Fusobacterium
fusiforme) infection Fusospirochaetosis
Effective treatment Penicillin &
metronidazole
Borrelia burgdorferi
Lyme disease (Lyme, Connecticut USA)
Annular skin lesions (erythema chronicum
nigricans), fever, headache, myalgia &
lymphadenopathy
After weeks/months
meningoencephalitis, neuropathies &
myocarditis, chronic arthritis
Leptospira
Obligate aerobes
Characteristic hooked ends
Spirochaetal jaundice

Weils disease L. ictohaemorrhagiae

Pathogenesis
Man
infected with leptospires in water contaminated
urine of carrier animals

enters body through cut/ abrassions on

skin/intact mucosa of mouth, nose or conjuctiva

Incubation period 6-8 days

Undifferentiated pyrexia - severe to fatal illness with

hepatorenal damage weils disease

Severe case vomiting, headache & infection of eyes

Fever irregular (subside 10 days)

Jaundice 10-20% ( 2nd & 3rd day)

Lab diagnosis
Blood, urine microscopy
Serological diagnosis agglutination, ELISA
Diagnosis in animals
Examination of water
Epidemiology
Zoonoses, worldwide distribution
Prophylaxis
Disinfection of water, vaccination of dogs, cattles,
pigs.
Therapy Penicillin & tetracycline
TREPONEMA
Spirochetes with endoflagella
G-ve, free living saprophyte/obligate
parasite
Aerobic, anaerobic or facultative
anaerobes
Some pathogenic, some commensal in
mouth, intestine & genitalia
Treponema pallidum
Causative agent of syphilis
Anaerobic & facultative anaerobes
PH 7.2 7.4
T - 37C
Complex media growth
Tissue culture
Cultivation in animals
Inactivated by heating - 42C, refrigeration 0-
4C, 3 days. By oxygen, soaps, antiseptics,
disinfectants.
Antigenic substance diphosphatidyl glycerol,
protein, polysaccharide
 SYPHILIS
Types venereal and non venereal syphilis
Venereal sexual contact
Enters body through minute abrasion on skin /
mucosa

Multiplies at site of entry

Incubation period one

month

3 stages of clinical manifestation primary ,

secondary, tertiary
Primary syphilis
Primary lesion 2 10 weeks
Skin necrosis, ulcerated lesion,
lymphocytes, plasmacell with small
arteriole Chancre
Hard Chancre painless, avascular,
circumscribed, indurated superficially
ulcerative lesion.
Spread thro blood and lymph and produce
latent infections
Heals by self without treatment leaving
scars
Secondary syphilis
2-12 weeks or 2-6 months after primary lesion
heals
Appears due to wide dissemination of pathogen
in blood
Patient asymptomatic
Highly infectious
Produce roseolar papular skin rashes, mucous
patches in oropharynx
Condylomata lesions of skin genitalia
Lesions ophthalmic, osseous(bone), meninges
Healing spontaneous, take time 4-5
yrs
Late syphilis or tertiary syphilis
Occur many years after primary
syphilis
Progressive neurosyphilis,
cardiovascular syphilis and
Gummatous syphilis
Non venereal Syphilis
Occupational disease
Blood transfusion
Congenital placenta
Endemic Syphilis- common in young children
Yaws T. pallidum spp pertenus
Asia, Africa, America, India AP, Orissa, MP
Pinta T. carateum, Extra genital papule,
hyper hypo pigmentation, no harm to host
Central/ South America
Lab Diagnosis
Specimen Blood, Cerebro Spinal Fluid, Mucopurulent
exudates
Microscopy giemsa stain, dark or phase contrast
microscope
Direct Fluoroscent Antibody test (DFA TP)
Culturing- Complex solid media under anaerobic
condition
Serology
Demonstration of antibody reacting with cardiolipin
antigen (Reagin test)
1.Wassermann complement fixation test
2. Tube Floccukation test of Kahn
3. Veneral Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL)
4. Rapid plasma reagin test (RPR)
 Demonstrtaion of antibody reacting with
group specific treponemal antigen
1.Reiter protein complement fixation
test(RPCF)
Test for specific antibodies to pathogenic
treponema
1.Treponema pallidum Immobilisation Test (TPI)
2.Fluorescent Treponemal antibody Test (FTA)
3. FTA Absorption (FTA-ABS)
4. Treponema pallidum Hemagglutination Assay
(TPHA)
5. Micro Hemagglutination Assay (MHA)
Epidemiology
Venereal - worldwide
Prophylaxis
Avoidance of direct contact with infected individual
Use of physical barrier/ antiseptics/ antibiotics
minimise the risk
No vaccine available
Treatment
Penicillin drug of choice
Benzathine penicillin G early case
Erythromycin/ tetracycline penicillin allergic
individual
Neurosyphilis Ceftriaxone
 MYCOPLASMA
Highly pleomorphic organism varying
in shape
Pleuropneumonia like organism PPLO
Absence of rigid cellwall Plasticity
Order Mycoplasmatales
Family Mycoplasmataceae
Two Genus
Mycoplasma utilize glucose/arginine
Ureaplasma hydrolyse urea
Morphology
Smallest, pleomorphic, granules/ filamentous,
non motile, gliding motility.
G ve stained with Giemsa stain
Cultivation
Facultative anaerobes
T 22 41C
Media enriched with 20% horse/human serum +
yeast extract + penicillin/thallium acetate
incubation -2-3days.
Colonies fried egg appearance (Dienes
method)
Agar colony cut placed on slide-covered with
coverslip-dried over alcoholic solution of
methylene blue + azure
Biochemical reaction
Fermentative
Utilise Glu/arginine
Not proteolytic
Urea hydrolysed ureaplasma
Resistance
45C 15 min, surfactive agents
taurocholate & lipolytic agent
Ag properties
Complement fixation test,
agglutination, passive
haemagglutination
Pathogenicity
Mycoplasmal Pneumonia M.pneumoniae
Incubation period 1-3 weeks
Onset gradual fever, malaise, headache, sore throat
Paroxysmal cough blood tinged sputum
Otitis, rashes, meningitis, encephalitis, hemolytic
anemia
Transmission droplets
Lab diagnosis
Throat swabs glucose + phenol in media
haemolysis
Serological immunofluoresence, haemagglutination
inhibition
Treatment - tetracycline & erythromycin
Genital infection
Transmitted by sexual contact
Urethritis, Proctititis, balanoprosthitis & reiter
syndrome, pelvic inflammatory disease, cervicitis,
vaginitis.
Infertility, abortion, postpartum fever,
Choriamniotis & low birth weight infants.
Ureoplasma ureolyticum
Urigenital tarct of man tiny colonies T srains/ T
form mycoplasmas
Causative agent non gonococcal urethritis &
reiter syndrome