Understanding The E. Coli Bacteria

The E. Coli or Escherichia Coli bacterium has been making its rounds in the news lately and have done so some many times recently. This two personality bacteria which is both beneficial and deadly to our health; have been causing serious havoc in Germany and is posing a serious threat to our lives, since it is a never before seen strain or variety of the most common bacteria in the world. This new strain is totally resistant to any current antibiotic treatment for this type of infection. Unfortunately, there are many people who still do not have a full understanding of how this bacteria plays both a beneficial and a deadly role in our health. After reading this article I hope you have better understanding of the E. Coli bacterium.

The E. Coli bacterium is a rod-shaped, gram-negative bacteria first discovered in 1885 by Theodor Escherich and later named after him in 1919. There are more than 700 different varieties of this bacteria worldwide. Sometimes some of them have flagella or hair-like projections on its surface to give it mobility.

The bacterium is classified as a "gram-negative" bacteria because it produces a red or pink colored stain when it exposed to a staining technique called the "Gram's Method". The pink or red color is produced by the cell wall of the bacterium. If the bacterium is "gram-positive" the cell wall will produce a purple or blue color. This testing technique is often used to classify bacteria into two distinct groups, however, some bacteria do not fall in either group. This staining technique is also used as a starting point to determine what kind bacteria is causing an infection in patients.

The E. Coli bacterium is capable of surviving in environments with oxygen as an aerobic organism and without oxygen as an anaerobic organism where it acquires it energy by fermentation process. It cannot survive in temperatures greater than 170 degrees Fahrenheit. This why it is so important to cook your meat thoroughly and long to ensure the bacteria is killed.

Most people are unaware where E. Coli bacteria are found. Most E. Coli bacteria are found right in our intestinal tract. In fact all warm-blooded animals carry this bacteria in their gut and newborns are born without it until they are expose to it in the first few hours of their life. It aids in the digestion of food and produces a couple vitamins for us. Since E. Coli is a major component in feces it is easily transmitted from feces to mouth if you do not wash your hands after performing the biological function of eliminating solid waste from the body. In a typical day we excrete approximately 100 billion to 10 trillion E. Coli bacteria from our body. Now you see why it is so important to wash your hands because there are probably a few million E. Coli bacteria on them after your bathroom trip.

Fortunately, the bacteria do not survive for long once it is outside of the body. If it did we would be in serious trouble. Infection would be widespread. The reason the bacteria do not survive long outside the body is because the outside temperature is generally lower than the optimal survival temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Sounds familiar? That, coincidently is our normal body temperature. It can survive in temperatures as high as 120 degrees Fahrenheit or higher but will die at temperature at 170 degrees Fahrenheit as mentioned before. This characteristic pretty much explains why most outbreaks occur in the warmer season and warmer regions of the world. E. Coli outbreaks rarely occurs in cold weather but it can happen.

There are basically a few ways to get E. Coli infection. The most common way is eating undercooked ground beef and contaminated food. Cows like us have E. Coli bacteria in their guts as well. When they are slaughtered all of that meat is grounded up and the E. Coli bacteria present in the intestine will contaminate some of the meat during the grounding process. If this contaminated meat is undercooked, everyone who eats it will become infected and everyone who touched it and did not wash their hands will become infected as well.

Once you eat undercooked ground beef the bacteria end up in the your stomach and eventually in the most favorable environment of the intestines where it begin to multiple rapidly. The reason you become sick even though you have the bacteria in you already is because it is a different strain or variety. Your body sees it as a foreign organism in the your system and will try to get rid of it like any other bacteria that evades its defenses. Even E. Coli bacteria from another human will make you sick simply because they are different from the ones inside your intestine. Again this is why it is important to wash your hands after your bathroom trip.

Another source of E. Coli infection is by drinking contaminated water or unpasteurized milk. You cannot drink untreated milk directly from a cow or any other animal since it contains E. Coli bacteria. I am not sure but I believe some groups of people in some regions of the world are able to drink untreated milk without any problem. Cows and other farm animals are a main source of E. Coli bacteria since they are constantly tracking manure and contaminated soil all over the place so it is essential that farm workers wash their hands frequently.

Finally, E. Coli infection can be caused by eating unwashed vegetables since they are often fertilized with cow and horse manure or if the vegetable have been sprayed with contaminated water. Washing vegetables will greatly reduce the risk of this infection.

The main symptoms of an E Coli infection are bloody diarrhea, severe stomach cramps and pains, nausea, and vomiting. These are also the symptoms of food poisoning since it is sometimes cause by E coli bacteria contamination. The symptoms usually appear in about three to four days once the bacteria enter your body and will disappear in about 10 days without any treatment.

Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) and Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (TTP) are the more serious symptoms of E. Coli infection. Both of these conditions wreak havoc on the blood. HUS is a very serious condition. The blood cells and walls of the blood vessel are destroyed thus resulting in kidney failure for some patients. Obviously, the patient ends up on dialysis because of this infection. TTP is similar to HUS and is often characterized with low platelet or thrombocyte counts , anemia and kidney failure. Fortunately, these serious symptoms only occur in a small percentage of the infected population, usually less than 10 out of 100 cases of E. Coli infection.

There is no specific treatment for E. Coli infection. Antibiotic is useless against E. Coli infection and in some cases the use of it may increases the risk of developing Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS). All current antibiotics have been ineffective against the recent outbreak of E. Coli infections in Germany. However, treatments are give to the patient as replacement of fluids and electrolytes to combat dehydration caused by diarrhea. Generally, the treatments are given to the elderly and children to help ease the discomfort and pains associated with the infection.

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