And so, #14DaysofMicrobiologyPoems continues.
I reached out to the science Twitterverse earlier this month in search of 14 microbes worthy of poems.
Here is Poem Nine, requested by @KimVesto.
Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi: In route to a systemic infection
Salmonella enterica takes on different forms.
There’s Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium,
One of the classic examples of food poisoning.
“Salmonella poisoning linked to romaine lettuce.”
Then, there’s Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi,
Made famous by Mary Mallon,
Who spread typhoid fever to dozens of people
As an asymptomatic carrier.
Salmonella Typhi unlike Salmonella Typhimurium,
Results in typhoid fever and can leave the host with a chronic infection.
Salmonella Typhi hides out in its host for two weeks,
Before letting its true colors shine: a systemic bacterial infection.
Entering the intestines, Salmonella Typhi finds an enterocyte,
A cell that make up part of the intestinal wall.
It rearranges the host cell’s cytoskeleton
And makes its way into the host.
In a vesicle,
Hiding out,
Modifying it,
To block normal vesicle destruction.
It also blocks the host immune response,
Keeping immune cells away from the infection sites,
Redirecting cytokines and chemokines to the surface of the host cell
And losing them into the intestines.
The bacteria make their way to the other side of the cell,
Where it can escape,
Causing a systemic infection.
Further reading:
