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Blind Men and an Elephant
Your Discussion should be 3-4 paragraphs in length, detailing your thoughts and position using 2-3 readings references for support. Also be sure to pose 1-2 well thought out questions from which your colleagues can formulate a response or generate further discussion.
Important: You will create a properly cited with an APA-formatted reference list, but do not post it in your original post – yet!
In the tale of the Blind Men and the Elephant, the men each find one area of the elephant’s body and describe what they believe an elephant to be. One believed an elephant to be a large fan. It turns out he was describing the animal’s ear. One man described its trunk as a snake, another described its leg as a tree trunk. Yet another man described a rope, yet it turns out he was handling the elephant’s tail.
Let’s see if when we describe the characteristics of microorganisms completely your colleagues will provide more accurate answers!
- Choose a pathogen that can invade the human body and research it in depth. Describe as many characteristics of the microscopic structure as possible, using size, shape (such as coccus), staining characteristics (such as Gram stain), or any detail other than its name. Include the transmission, etiology, and host of the disease. Try to provide a written “picture” in your colleagues’ minds without directly giving away the answer. Your description must be complete enough to rule out any other answers and avoid confusion (check your work by researching your organism’s characteristics before posting to be sure you could answer it yourself!).
- In your replies to this discussion, provide the name of the pathogen and your rationale for each response. Combine all of the information provided to choose one best, precise answer. If you cannot conclusively determine the pathogen, reply to another student’s post.
Keep in mind the entire description. Although someone may describe an airborne bacterium that causes pneumonia, it does not necessarily mean the answer is Streptococcus pneumoniae. Staphylococcus aureus and Neisseria meningitidis both also have an airborne mode of transmission, cause typical pneumonia, and are both cocci bacteria, but one is Gram positive and one is Gram negative. - In order to complete the assignment, please return to your original post after a few days and review the answers left by your peers. Reply to your peers with the correct answer and your reference list.
Note: Be sure to use APA formatted in-text citations and references within your post.
Resources to get you started
The Blind Men and the Elephant
https://thesystemsthinker.com/the-blind-men-and-the-elephant/
1. Size, Shape, Staining characteristics
Size: About 0.5 to 1.0 μm in diameter (Li & Zhou, 2015).
Shape: Each cell is spherical or elliptical and appears like a lot of cells linked together like a chain.
Staining characteristics: This organism is a Gram-positive coccus that stains positively with Gram staining due to the presence of a thick peptidoglycan layer that absorbs crystal violet (Picmonic, n.d.). On the other hand, it is catalase-negative, distinguishing it from catalase-positive staphylococcal species (Picmonic, n.d.). They are divided into three groups according to their hemolytic properties, and I selected Group A for this post.
2. transmission, etiology, and host of the disease.
The main routes of infection are droplet infection, by inhaling the bacteria in the droplets of the patient's coughs and sneezes, or contact infection by touching the mouth or nose with a hand with bacteria on it. Human throat and skin cells are hosts for this pathogen, and a person infected with streptococcus but showing no symptoms is called a carrier, and a person with symptoms such as fever and sore throat after the number of bacteria has increased beyond a certain level is called an infected person (Watson et al., 2016). When this pathogen infects and multiplies in the upper respiratory tract, it causes fever, sore throat, vomiting, and other common cold-like symptoms. Additionally, animals such as rodents such as rats and chinchillas, mammals such as monkeys and pandas, silkworms and fish can also be infected with this pathogen (Watson et al., 2016).
3. Clinical disease caused by the pathogen.
As mentioned earlier, most patients infected with this pathogen experience only cold-like symptoms. However, in rare cases, it can cause serious problems.
・When the infection spreads to muscle or fat tissue, it kills muscle and fat cells. In this case, patient mortality is as high as 20% (New York States Department of Health, 2011). Therefore, this pathogen is called also a flesh-eating bacteria.
・In another case, the toxins from this bacterium can also send the body into shock states, causing rapid and severe damage to organs such as the kidneys, liver, and lungs. In this case, patient mortality is as high as 60% (New York States Department of Health, 2011).
Question
・Have you ever heard about a flesh-eating bacteria?
・Is the bacterium common in your community?
References
Li, Y., & Zhou, X. (2015). Oral Mucosal Microbes. Atlas of Oral Microbiology from Healthy Microflora to Disease, 5. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-802234-4.01002-8.
New York States Department of Health. (2011). Streptococcal Infections (invasive group A strep, GAS). Retrieved from https://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/streptococcal/group_a/fact_sheet.htm#:~:text=What%20is%20group%20A%20Streptococcus,as%20strep%20throat%20and%20impetigo.
Picmonic. (n.d.). Streptococcus pyogenes characteristics - gram positive cocci - microbiology for medicine. Retrieved from https://www.picmonic.com/pathways/medicine/courses/standard/microbiology-202/gram-positive-cocci-36094/streptococcus-pyogenes-characteristics_2634
Watson, M. E., Caparon, M. G., & Neely, M. N. (2016). Animal Models of Streptococcus pyogenes Infection. U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK333421/
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