The Urogenital Tract

Aerococcus viridans
This bacterium is generally a saprophytic one; it feeds on dead organic material. It is
mainly a pathogen of lobsters, but in rare cases has been infectious to humans, mainly
causing urinary tract infections. A. viridans is generally an issue in immunocompromised
patients. Schistosoma haematobium
This organism is a trematode that resides in contaminated water. When they come into contact with human skin, they are able to
General characteristics: burrow into the skin and enter the blood stream. They avoid detection by the immune system by coating themselves with host antigen.
• gram-positive They prefer to copulate in the human bladder, where the mature flukes lay as many as 3,000 eggs per day that cause hematuria and
• catalase negative fibrosis of the bladder. The eggs are then expelled in the urine of the host, and if they are released into fresh water they will mature and
• oxidase negative infect snails, which are the intermediate host.

Not much is known about the virulence of A. aerococcus, but it is part of the normal flora
of the upper airways. It only becomes pathogenic in patients that have previously existing
conditions. This organism has also been known to cause endocarditis and meningitis.

Herpes simplex virus

The herpes virus is one which infects the mucus membranes of both
the oral cavity and the genitalia of human beings. It is generally spread
by skin on skin contact and is a lifelong infection.

Virulence factors: Candida albicans

• Herpes has glycoproteins on its surface that correspond C. albicans is a member of the yeast family and is generally part of the normal flora of the
mucus membranes of the body. Overgrowth of this fungus, however, can cause vaginal
with receptors on the host cell. Candidiasis.
• Once it binds to those receptors, its membrane will fuse with
Virulence factors:
that of the host and the virus enters. • This organism has the ability to undergo numeric and structural
• Herpes injects its own DNA capsid into the nucleus so that chromosomal rearrangements, which it uses as a way of increasing genetic
diversity.
replication will occur • This allows the fungus to readily adapt to many different environments.
• It evades the immune system by interfering with MHC class I
presentation of antigen on the surface of infected cells.

References:
Kosinski, Karen C. "Diagnostic Accuracy of Urine Filtration and Dipstick Tests for Schistosoma Haematobium Infection in a Lightly Infected Population of Ghanaian Schoolchildren." Elsevier 118 (2011): 123-27. Print.
Meryem Cetin, Sabahattin Ocak, and Devrim Ertunc. "An Unsusual Case of Urinary Tract Infection Caused by Aerococcus Viridans." Mustafa Kemel University, Dec. 2007. Web. 25 May 2011.
Netea, Mihai, and Grodon Brown. "An Inegrated Model of the Recognition of Candida Albiacans by the Innate Immune System." Nature Reviews Microbiology (2008): 67-78. Print.
Umbach, Jennifer L. "MicroRNAs Expressed by Herpes Simplex Virus 1 during Latent Infection Regulate Viral MRNAs." Nature, 7 Aug. 2008. Web. 24 May 2011.