Gas+Gangrene

Clostridium terfringens //** What bacteria infects 900-1000 people in the U.S. alone every year? This bacteria is **//Clostridium terfringens//** or Gas Gangrene. This bacteria will rot the flesh and kill a person from the inside out. Gas gangrene can infect any species that sustain injuries by cutting off the blood supply to the limbs. The bacteria can be cured by penicillin or other antibacterial medicine. Follow us as we tell you about the eubacteria, gas gangrene. Gas gangrene belongs to the eubacteria kingdom. For an organism to belong in the eubacteria kingdom, it has to be unicellular which means made up of only one cell. It also has to be prokaryotic meaning the cells do not have a nucleus. Eubacteria also have a cell wall which is a rigid, stiff, firm structure that surrounds the cell membrane and provides support for the cell. Many eubacteria use a flagella to move. A flagella helps the bacteria cell move around and spin. Gas gangrene has all of these characteristics. Gangrene is the condition of a limb being cut off from its blood supply. It occurs when there are extreme conditions such as freezing cold (which produces dry gangrene) or through bacterial infection of open wounds (moist gangrene). Gas gangrene is the condition in which highly reproductive bacteria infect the area and spread quickly producing small gas bubbles beneath the skin of the host. Gas gangrene is the most deadly type of gangrenous infection because it spreads so quickly and does the most damage. Severe gangrene infections can spread at rates up to an inch an hour or two feet in one day. Most of the common symptoms of gangrenous infections are weeping wounds, brown pus, foul or sweet smell and visible rotting of the flesh. Treatments are mainly limited to penicillin although other antibacterial works. If the infection is beneath the surface of the skin, the dead tissues must be removed and penicillin must be given both in a shot and topically. Twenty five percent of the people who get gas gangrene die. Gas gangrene can infect any species that can get an injury cutting off the blood supply to the limbs. By: Maddie, Wesley, Kylie, RJ   Period 1