Soil Related Infections - Differential Diagnosis Framework
Mechanism Of Infection:
• Wound
• GI: Ingestion, MUD, Contaminated food
• Respiratory Tract: Inhalation
• Skin Penetration
Rhizosphere:
• Pathogens may be indigenous or enter the soil through application, indirectly by animal deposits, manure application, or from flooding with sewage/contaminated water.
• Rhizosphere (narrow zone surrounding and influenced by plant roots, is a hot spot for numerous organisms)
• Organisms in the rhizosphere include: bacteria, fungi, oomycetes, nematodes, protozoa, algae, viruses, archaea, and arthropods
Bacteria:
• Clostridium tetani - Tonic contraction of the skeletal muscles and intense intermittent muscle spasms. Classic findings include trismus (in approximately 50%), stiff neck, opisthotonus, a "sardonic" smile, abdominal rigidity, and periods of apnea
• Clostridium botulinum - Weakness, paresis, and paralysis, acute bilateral cranial neuropathies and symmetrically descending weakness
• Clostridium perfringens
• Legionella longbeachae
• Legionella pneumophila
• Bacillus anthracis
- Pruritic papule on exposed skin, which ulcerates with surrounding vesicles, followed by black eschar
- Inhalation anthrax: Nonspecific respiratory illness followed by a (usually fatal) sudden second phase of severe respiratory distress
• Escherichia coli O157:H7
• P. aeruginosa
• S. maltophilia
• Bacillus cereus
• Listeria monocytogenes - Ubiquitous in soil and other material such as sewage, silage, groundwater, and vegetation
• Burkholderia pseudomallei
• Mycobacterium leprae
• Nocardia infection
• Salmonella
• Campylobacter jejuni
• NTM
Parasites:
• Ascaris
• Ancylostoma duodenale
• Trichuris
• Strongyloides
• Enterobius
• Toxocara
• Myiasis
Amoeba:
• Naegleria fowleri
• Acanthamoeba
• Balamuthia mandrillaris
Algae:
• Prototheca
• Chlorella
Fungi:
Soil-related endemic fungi cause primary pulmonary disease
• Aspergillus Species - Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (cough, dyspnea, possible fever, chest pain, hemoptysis, wheezing); pulmonary or sinus fungus balls
• Coccidioidomycosis ("Valley Fever")
• Coccidioides
• Pulmonary blastomycosis
• Histoplasma capsulatum
• Mycetoma
• Cryptococcus
• Erysipelothrix
• Chromoblastomycosis
• Trichosporon
• Paracoccidioidomycosis
• Sporothrix schenckii
• Rhizopus and Mucor
• Acinetobacter
by Dr. Ravi Singh @rav7ks and Dr. Kushal Vaishnani @k_vaishnani
#Soil #Infections #differential #diagnosis #InfectiousDiseases
