Anthrax infection

Benzylpenicillin is an older antibiotic effective against pneumococcal and meningoccal infections, anthrax, and Lyme disease. As part of a purification process. 200 mg of benzyipenicillin is mixed with 25 mL of n-octmol and 25 mL of water. After equilibrium is established, there is a water-rich phase that contains essentially no /t-octanol and ati octanol-rich phase that contains 74. mol % n-octanol and 26 mol % water. Determine the concentrations of benzyipenicillin in each of these phases. 

Treatment of urinary tract, respiratory tract, and eye infections anthrax, syphilis, cholera, etc. 

Treatment of urinary and respiratory tract infections, anthrax, and sexually-transmitted diseases... 

Many diseases, including anthrax, are most effectively treated before actual manifestation of the symptoms is observed. Presently a presumptive identification of Bacillus anthracis can be made in about 3 hours however, if a full laboratory response network (LRN) confirmation procedure is utilized, the theoretical time increases substantially to approximately 48 hours. During the recent anthrax cases 72 to 96 hours were common to complete the entire LRN protocol. In the meantime antibiotics were administered as a precaution based on the presumptive results to individuals thought to be exposed to B. anthracis spores or with anthrax symptoms. The mass administering of antibiotics from a cost standpoint, as well as from medical prudence to prevent the rise of antibiotic-resistant strains, is not the optimal answer to the anthrax infection problem. Therefore it is important that early tests be rapid and reliable with a minimum number of false positive and false negative results. 

The anthrax bioterrorist attacks that followed the events of September 11th 2001 resulted in a renewed interest BadUus anthracis, the causative agent of this disease. Research has focused on the development of better vaccines than the one currently available. It has been estimated that the aerosolized release of 100 kg of anthrax spores upwind of Washington DC would cause mortalities of 130,000-3,000,000 [63]. Nonetheless, wild-type Bacillus anthracis is susceptible to conventional antibiotics, including penicillin, oxyfloxacin and ciprofloxacin. The problem lies not with the bacterial infection itself, but with three proteins released by the bacteria - protective antigen (PA, 83 kDa), lethal factor (LF, 90 kDa) and edema factor (EF, 89 kDa) -known as anthrax toxins [63]. 

Infected individuals Unless the individual is reporting directly from the scene of an attack (e.g., "anthrax" letter, aerosol release, etc.) then decontamination is not necessary. Use standard protocols for individuals that may be infected with a communicable disease transmissible via an aerosol. 

Suggested Alternatives for Differential Diagnosis Other causes of pneumonia, typhoid fever, tuberculosis, plague, anthrax infection, smallpox. 

Suggested Alternatives for Differential Diagnosis African horse sickness, anthrax, botulism, pasteurellosis, equine influenza, peracute equine herpesvirus 1 infection, and ingestion of plant or agricultural poisons. 

Suggested Alternatives for Differential Diagnosis Acute respiratory distress syndrome, plague, congestive heart failure and pulmonary edema, HIV infection and AIDS, pneumonia, shock, phosgene, influenza, tularemia, phosphine toxicity, anthrax, silent myocardial infarction, and salicylate toxicity with pulmonary edema. 

Rickettsia can be stored as freeze-dried powders. In this form, they are easy to disperse. However, because they are living organisms and can be killed during the dispersal process there are limitations to the methods that can be used. They can also be stored and dispersed via infected vectors (e.g., lice, ticks). In most cases, large-scale attacks will be clandestine and only detected through epidemiological analysis of resulting disease patterns. Localized or small-scale attacks may take the form of "anthrax" letters. Even in these cases, without the inclusion of a threat the attack may go unnoticed until the disease appears in exposed individuals (e.g., the initial 2001 anthrax attack at American Media Inc., which claimed the life of Robert Stevens). 

More recently, anthrax has been used as a biological weapon in the United States and a total of 22 cases were identified. Six fatalities occurred due to inhalation of the causal agent, Bacillus anthracis. Use of microorganisms for agroterrorism as well as infection of companion animals, and the potential development of genetically engineered agents have made the twenty-first century more vulnerable than past centuries. 

The advent of immunoproteomics made possible the identification of highly immunogenic proteins that can be used for vaccine development. Proteins that have the greatest potential for eliciting a protective immune response are collectively referred to as the pathogen s immunome. Immunoproteomics has been utilized to characterize the immu-nome of B. anthracis for the development of a safer and equally efficacious vaccine. The immunoreactive proteins are first identified by using 2DE Western blot analysis in conjunction with mass spectrometry. In B. anthracis, for example, antisera from humans post-infected with anthrax were used to probe Western blots of its various... 

Differential Diagnosis An epidemic of inhalation anthrax in its early stage with nonspecific symptoms could be confused with a number of viral, bacteria, and fungal infections. Progression over two to three days with sudden development of severe respiratory distress followed by shock and death within twenty-four to thirty-six hours in essentially all untreated cases eliminates diagnosis other than inhalation anthrax. Other diagnosis to consider would include aerosol exposure to staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB), plague, or tularemia pneumonia. 

Routes of Entry to the Body Inhalation, skin, and mouth. A biological warfare attack or a terrorist incident utilizing anthrax spores disseminated by aerosol would cause inhalation anthrax, a very rare form of this naturally occurring disease. Normal infection could occur through scratches or sores, wounds, eating insufficiently cooked infected meat, or by flies. All human populations are susceptible. The good news is that if you survive anthrax disease the first time, you would be immune to anthrax disease in the future. 

Ciprofloxacin An antibiotic drug useful in treating bacterial infections the recommended antibiotic for treating anthrax infections as well as prophylaxis in a biological warfare setting. 

In the fall of 2001, letters containing a sophisticated and lethal form of powdered anthrax were sent to news media outlets and two democratic senators (the letters to the two senators were more highly refined and therefore more deadly). Of the eleven victims of inhalational anthrax, six survived. Eleven people also came down with cutaneous anthrax. Thousands of potentially exposed individuals were prescribed the antibiotic Cipro. The perpetrator is still unknown. This attack demonstrated that an individual could create highly refined anthrax spores, which, if disseminated properly, could infect hundreds, thousands or more. What is less clear is whether the perpetrator or any other terrorist could produce larger amounts (kgs) of anthrax and efficiently disseminate the spores over a wide area. According to the nuclear threat initiative, Producing... 

Anthrax Attacks — Soon after September 11, 2001, terrorists began sending envelopes containing anthrax spores through the U.S. mail system. The envelopes were mailed to NBC and CBS television stations, The New York Post, Senator Tom Daschle s office, the State Department, and other locations. As of November 21, 2001, 37 individuals had been exposed to anthrax 13 were infected and 5 eventually died. The FBI is still trying to determine who was responsible for these attacks. 

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