Streptococcus Pneumoniae Free Essay Example, 1250 words

However, the rate is very low in number; it is 1 in 105 micro-organisms. The transparent colony is best adapted for proliferation in the nasopharynx. The opaque colonies thrive very well in the host’s blood. The opaque colonies increase their virulence during systemic infections. These differences in colony opacity match well with the virulence. The opaque variant has capsular polysaccharide in large amounts. The transparent phenotype of streptococcus pneumoniae is secrets large amounts of teichoic acid. The difference in virulence in the two variants is attributed to differential expression of surface protein components. The transparent variant possesses large amounts of surface protein. This explains why it flourishes in the nasopharynix. The protein confers adhesive properties that enable the transparent variant to colonize the nasopharynx well. Conversely, the small amount of surface proteins renders the opaque variant poorly adapted to colonize nasopharynix. That is the principal reason why it is found in blood. It does not require adhesions in the blood. When the streptococcus pneumoniae crosses the brain barrier, they cause meningitis. In the blood, the opaque variant of micro-organism is responsible for bacterema (Toder, 2012). The people with weak immunity are at highest risk of S. We will write a custom essay sample on Streptococcus Pneumoniae or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now pneumoniae infection. The cause of weak immunity is either through compromise or through suppression. Defects such as congenital agammaglobulinemia and lymphomas affect antibody formation. This leaves the host less immunologically protected and hence exposed to S. pneumoniae attack. The children under the age of one year and the adults over the age of 65 years are vulnerable to suffer from acute pneumonia. Other factors that expose one to S. pneumoniae infection include smoking, alcoholism, splenectomy, HIV infection, and complement deficiency. This makes the bacteria to adhere to pneumocytes and invade blood stream. This happens through hijacking the platelet-aggregating factor receptor pathway. They produce complement-mediated damage to the alveolus of lungs. Pneumolysin plays a significant role in pneumonia infection (Department of Health Services, 2011). The bacterium is transmitted from person to person through direct oral contact, spread of dr oplets or contact of articles with fresh respiratory secretions. S. pneumoniae spreads quickly when the colonized or infected persons live in closed and crowded environments. The unvaccinated people are highly susceptible to the bacterial attack.