Streptococcus is a genus of gram-positive, chemotrophic bacteria. All streptococci are facultative anaerobes, that is, they can live both without oxygen and in its presence, but they prefer anaerobic environment. Streptococci can parasitize both in humans and in most animal species, living in most cases in the digestive system, nasal cavity and oral cavity.
The history of the study of streptococci begins in the 19th century, when streptococcus was found in a smear of purulent discharge of infected patients. After that, many researchers from all over the world began to actively study bacteria, and at the beginning of the 20th century it was proved that this bacterium is the cause of scarlet fever. After this, many more studies were carried out, which are still ongoing.
Diseases that streptococcus can cause.
This bacterium has a large number of its younger relatives, which can cause a fairly extensive number of diseases. All diseases are united by only one thing - in each case streptococcus is detected in the patient's smear.
- Bronchitis
- Angina
- Erysipelas
- Pneumonia
- Periodontitis
- Abscess
- Rheumatism
- Glomerulonephritis
- Pharyngitis
- Scarlet fever
- Streptoderma
Diagnosis and identification of bacteria
There are many ways to identify this pathogen, most of which are quite complex in technical terms. But, to put it simply, it is possible to describe the most basic way of identifying all pathological microorganisms of a person.
The wound or any other discharge of the patient associated with the disease is sown on a nutrient medium, on a Petri dish. After that, a clean colony is detected, that is, multiple reseeding of growing colonies of microorganisms on new selective nutrient media and the application of all sorts of exposure methods that bacteria of one type cannot tolerate, while other bacteria can easily survive. After long weeks and sometimes months of work on a Petri dish, a pure culture of the pathological microorganism should be isolated, which is stained with various dyes and identified by various means.
If time does not allow us to perform this long microbiological ritual, then there are methods for express-diagnosing microbes, one of which is to microscope the discharge. If, as a result of an express study, coca is found in the patient’s smear, and the symptoms coincide with the alleged disease, then the microbiologist can proceed to more detailed treatment, and the doctor can treat the patient.
Treatment and prevention
After diagnosing the disease, treatment can begin. Cocci in a smear are not evidence of a streptococcal infection in the body, but they can serve as one of the facts, along with other tests that can speed up the microbial identification process if streptococcus is really detected in the smear.
Treatment of streptococcal infections is successfully carried out using antibiotic therapy. It is important not to show independence in this matter and entrust the choice of antibiotic to the doctor, otherwise there may be negative consequences for the patient's body in the future - from an untreated disease, due to an improperly selected drug, to the development of resistance of microorganisms to drugs.
A stable vaccine against the development of streptococcal infections does not exist today, which is associated with the great variability of this microbe, therefore, after streptococcus was detected in a smear, antibiotic treatment is carried out until the patient is completely recovered. With relapses of the disease, in most cases it is necessary to change the treatment method, because relapse may be associated with the resistance of microbes to the selected drugs.