BIOL 134 Lecture Notes - Lecture 26: Gas Gangrene, Diving Chamber, Septic Shock
Document Summary
Causes the most serious type of gangrene. Gas gangrene is named for the gases produced by c. perfringens. 1) bacteria is introduced to a deep wounds (no oxygen) 2) tissue necrosis (death) around the wound. 3) low oxygen environment allows bacterial growth. 4) gas production pushes out oxygen from nearby tissues. Given time (2-3 days), c. perfringens and its toxins enter the bloodstream. In the civil war, gangrene (or attempts to treat it) accounted for ~40% of the battlefield deaths. No vaccine, but treatment is very good. Na(cid:373)e is fro(cid:373) the lati(cid:374) for (cid:862)sausage(cid:863) (cid:862) ausage disease(cid:863) for ties to (cid:271)lood sausage. Like certain other kinds of food poisoning, c. botulinum infects food, not us. If able to grow in food, produces a potent exotoxin. Potency: 75 nanogram lethal dose for the average human. 1 kg enough to kill ~13 billion people. Despite this, no vaccine developed for use. Prevention by proper food handling has been effective.
