In article <199406131827.OAA17807 at hobbes>, ogston at HOBBES.KZOO.EDU (Walter
Ogston) wrote:
> It looks like nobody has posted an answer to Rachel Parmer's enqiry about the
> bug going round that causes gangrene. This is apparently Necrotizing Fasciitis
> which my med micro book (Baron) says is caused by several types of bacteria,
> including Streptococcus pyogenes.
> If there is a virus involved it would have to be a temperate phage carrying
> a virulence factor. This would be interesting. Has anyone seen a report of
> phage in these bacteria isolates?
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Walter Ogston ogston at hobbes.kzoo.edu> Department of Biology Phone: (616)337-7010
> Kalamazoo College Fax: (616)337-7251
> Kalamazoo, MI 49006-3295
Yes, a virus is involved. Some of the more sensational news reports
mentioned that it was a virus causing the problem, when in fact the
causative agent, Strep A, is a bacterial strain that contains a virus. What
I've read said that the phage causes bacterial production of a potent toxin
to which the body reacts very dramatically. This immune over-reaction is in
fact what destroys the skin or muscle tissue, producing the disease
symptoms.
All this according to the New York Times.
--
_ _ |_ RICK HERSHBERGER, PH.D. * Postdoctoral Fellow
| |_| | | Institute for Molecular Virology * UW-Madison
| rphershb at facstaff.wisc.edu
