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 Twelve, requested by @word_working.

 

 

 

Streptococcus pyogenes: the clot buster

Streptococcus pyogenes meets blood,
Finding it in agar plates in the lab
And destroying it surrounding the cell.
Leaving behind a dark cloud around the growing colonies.

It’s a bacterium behind anything from a skin infection
To a life-threatening systemic disaster.

S. pyogenes naturally breaks up blood clots
Using an enzyme
To make inroads into its human host.
Spreading its infection.

Streptokinase, it’s called.

Breaking up blood clots?
That sounds like it could be useful.
Yes indeed!

In the 1980s,
Streptokinase came to the rescue.
Approved to treat heart attacks,
If given within the first few hours,
Mortality is reduced by 25%.

What an important enzyme!
Its name is a mouthful but,
Just remember,
Streptokinase also earned the title of
“Clot buster.”

Further reading:

The rise and fall of the clot buster. The Pharmaceutical Journal. 2014.