Campylobacter: An Enteric Microorganism

History of CampylobacterThe initial discovery of Campylobacter was made by a German-Austrian pediatrician named Theodor Escherich in 1886. His observation and description led him to conclude that these spiral shaped, non-culturable bacteria were capylobacters. In 1913, Vibrio-like bacteria were isolated from the fetuses of aborted ovines by Stockman and McFadyean.

It was followed by the discovery spiral shaped bacteria on the same ovine fetuses by Smith after five years. This led him to a conclusion that these spiral microorganisms and the vibrio isolated by Stockman and McFadyean fit on the same species.Vibrio fetus was then proposed as name for these strains. In 1927, Orcutt and Smith identified another cluster of Vibrio -like strain on the feces of bovines with dysentery and named them Vibrio jejuni.

Another strain was also discovered in 1944 by Doyle on the feces of pigs with dysentery but was classified under the name of Vibrio coli (Vandamme, 2000). By 1957, Vibrio was discovered to cause human infections because of the bacteremia it causes (Pickering, Gold and Ruiz-Palacios, 2006).Two more strains were discovered by Florent in 1959, Vibrio fetus subsp. Venerealis and Vibrio fetus subsp. intestinalis which causes infectious fertility and sporadic abortion respectively.

Several years have passed and the name Vibrio was changed to Campylobacter in 1963 after Veron and Sebald noticed their differential characteristics: low composition of DNA base, nonfermentative metabolism, growth requiring less oxygen in comparison to the atmosphere (Vandamme, 2000).Description of CampylobacterThe word Campylobacter came from a Greek word which means curved rod, and greatly reflects the physical characteristic of bacteria (Pattison, McMullin and Bradbury, 2008). Campylobacter is a gram-negative, spiral or S-shaped bacilli that are microaerophilic, non-sporing (Pickering, 2006), and measures 0.2 to 0.

9 micrometers wide by 0.5. to 5.0 long (De la Maza, 2004). They have rapid, dart-like motility and with flagellum attached to one or both ends.

They have the ability to reduce nitrite and nitrate but are unable to ferment or oxidize carbohydrates. Some species are thermophilic such as C. coli and C. upsaliensis. and can grow between 37-42 degrees Celsius (McClure and Blackburn, 2002).

Campylobacter colonizes the mucosal surfaces of birds and mammals with the intestinal mucosa as the usual habitat for most Campylobacter species. Others colonize the oral mucosa while others are found on the crevices of the gums (Wassenaar and Newell, 2006).Growth Conditions of CampylobacterCampylobacters can grow both anaerobically and aerobically. Most species, however, grow at a temperature of 42 degrees Celsius (De la Maza, 2004). Some can grow in vegetation and soil at a temperature of 4 degrees Celsius but remains viable for only 7 days. Its growth may also be suppressed if Campylobacter is exposed to pH less than 5 and ultraviolet (Jones, 2002).

This bacterial specie also has the ability to survive in freshwater for 4 months with a temperature of 4 degrees Celsius but with the consideration to the aerated condition of water (Thomas, Hill and Mabey, 1999). Campylobacter Infections Campylobacter is known to be one of the cause of acute diarrheal illnesses worldwide. On certain occasions, infection from Campylobacter can lead to long term adverse conditions. Such conditions would include Guillain-Barre Syndrome but is found to be common among youth and those with subsequent infections from a variety of Campylobacter species (Wierzba, 2008).

Reactive arthritis is also a common condition after Campylobacter infection wherein the adult population is the usual target (Hannu, 2002). Aside from that, uveitis may also be experienced by an individual after Campylobacter infection (Zaher and Graham, 2008). Erythema nodosum and Reiter's syndrome Symptoms from Campylobacter Infections Infections form Campylobacter is often presented with symptoms of back pain, headache, fever, and myalgias. Symptoms of gastrointestinal disturbances occurs within 24 hours. An infected person usually experiences abdominal cramping pain that cannot be localized and sometimes mimic pain from acute appendicitis.

On the first day, an individual may pass four to 20 stools. They are described as loose and one-fourth of those diarrheal episodes may contain blood. Fever usually persists for 24 to 48 hours. Symptoms are usually gone after 2 days but in some cases, illness may be longer than usual (Mitchell, 2007).

Antibiotic Resistant Strains of Campylobacter Over the past years, several studies are conducted to prove the appearance of antibiotic resistant strains of Campylobacter.A study conducted by Saenz and colleagues (2000) revealed that there is high resistance of C. coli strains found on pigs on certain antibiotic such as ampicillin, gentamicin, and amikacin. Another study revealed that resistance to fluoroquinolone is also present and it was attributed to the intake of imported chicken (Gaunt and Piddock, 1996).ReferencesDe la Maza, L.M.

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