Spirochaetal Diseases of Human
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Abstract
Spirochetes are a Group of gram-negative bacteria having spiral shape structures. They are highly pathogenic. These bacteria are unique and comprise endocellular flagella ranging from 2 to above 100 per organism. Pathogenic species of spirochetes cause diseases such as syphilis and Lyme disease. Treponema pallidum causes syphilis. In addition, they usually cause sexually transmitted diseases. The symptoms include skin sores, bone lumps, skin growth, and discoloration patch. Penicillin injection is used to get rid of them. Borrelia has 52 species that cause borreliosis, also called Lyme disease and relapsing fever. They spread through lice and ticks. The symptoms include fever, chills, headache, nausea, and rashes. Moreover, Leptospira causes leptospirosis, also called Weil’s disease. It includes flu-like symptoms. It can also exhibit meningitis and lung bleeding in severe cases. Spirochetes can be found in a diverse range of environments. They are both parasitic and free living. They are very tough to culture. They are usually 5-50 μm in length. Morphological characteristics of spirochetes are: Outer membrane, Periplasmic space containing flagella, Peptidoglycan layer, Endoflagella, Inner cytoplasmic membrane. Spirochetes can be easily differentiated among other Gram-negative bacteria because of the unique endoflagella, which imparts motility. Flagella winds around the shape of bacteria between the cell wall and outer membrane. This structure is called the axial filament. When the axial filament rotates, spirochetes move in a spiral motion.
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