Pathogen Profile Checklist for Term Assignment

Pathogen Profile Checklist for Term Assignment

What should you include in your Pathogen Profile presentation?

The aim of your pathogen profile is to provide information about key characteristics of the pathogen, and to add current information relevant in the healthcare setting. Each profile should provide information about the basic features of the pathogen: structural and metabolic/physiological features, unique features used for detection and diagnosis, type(s) of infection caused, pathogenicity and virulence factors, risk factors for becoming infection with the pathogen, and information related to control of the pathogen.

Your pathogen profile should clearly state the following information in your own words:

• Microbial anatomy and physiology: What are some of the key features of your pathogen with respect to its structure & physiology?
  • If your pathogen is a type of bacteria: is it Gram positive or Gram negative?

What is the typical microscopic morphology? (cocci, rods, vibrios, spirochetes; in chains, clusters, diplococci, etc.)

• What is the typical colonial morphology? Are there any unusual features about culturing this microbe that would be “clues” for identification or that would make it easy to culture, difficult or impossible to culture?
• Is it motile? ie) does it have flagella or not? If it has flagella, are they polar, peritrichous or in another arrangement?
• How is it cultivated in the lab? What are the characteristics and requirements? ▪ What are the oxygen requirements? Is it anaerobic, aerobic, facultative, microaerophilic?

▪ Are there any metabolic features that are important for identification purposes? ie) Certain species of Staphylococci are able to ferment mannitol – and so strains that are able to cause a colour-change on agar containing mannitol are described as “mannitol positive”.

• If the pathogen is a virus:follow the list above, but note there will be some important differences! For viruses, physiological features will not be relevant, and viruses are usually cultured only in eukaryotic cells (some viruses can be cultured in the lab using chicken eggs).
  • You will need to indicate structural and genetic information – ie) is the virus a DNA or an RNA virus, double or single stranded?
  • Does it have an envelope; what is the overall shape of the b?
  • What types of host cells does the virus infect?
  • Does it cause acute, latent or chronic infections?

• Pathogenicity: consider what makes your pathogen pathogenic! oWhat are the key virulence factors?
  • Are there typical “risk factors” associated with infections with this pathogen? For example, some pathogens target mainly children, some target immunosuppressed individuals.
  • What type(s) of infections does the pathogen cause? Are the infections associated with a particular body location or system?
  • Does it cause opportunistic infections?
  • What are the outcomes of infection? What makes this pathogen a health problem?
  • What are the typical host responses to your pathogen? ie) does it cause inflammation? Immunosuppression? Septic shock? Are there long-term consequences (sequelae) for survivors?

• Antibiotic and disinfectant resistance and susceptibility: what is known about the range of antibiotic/antiviral drug or disinfectant resistance of this pathogen? What types of antimicrobial agents are effective against this pathogen?
  • Are specific sterilization and disinfection routines in place for dealing with this pathogen in healthcare settings?

Some Pathogen Profile Pointers

DO include some images of the pathogen. A good source for images is the CDC Public Health Image Library (CDC PHIL), available at http://phil.cdc.gov/phil/home.asp These images are usually copyright free, and the CDC asks only that you credit the images appropriately, indicating the contributor and the fact that you obtained them from the CDC PHIL. For ANY images you use, you need to include the appropriate credits.

Where should you look for information?

• PubMed or other journal databases
• o ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health Source (recommended)
• o CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature) Plus with Full Text
• o Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition
• o BMJ Journals
• Public Health Ontario – Infectious Diseases has information about each of the assigned pathogens. Look under the heading “Infectious Disease Topics”
• Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has varied sources of information about these pathogens including information at the PHAC diseases page and information for health care professionals and the Pathogen Safety Data Sheets
• The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/
• The CDC Diseases and Conditions Index has an alphabetical listing of pathogens; note you can simply type your pathogen into the “search” bar
• For images: CDC Public Health Image Library (CDC PHIL)

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• The World Health Organization website: http://www.who.int/en/ including the Disease Outbreak News (DONs) feature at http://www.who.int/csr/don/en/index.html