Holococcus Research Paper

This paper will will explore the way that Group A Streptococcus (GAS) pathogens invade and evade the immune system to cause infections that can be either innocuous or fatal. Group A Streptococcus is a group of human pathogens that are usually found in the throat or the skin (7). They can be spread through different direct contact to an exposed mucous membrane, or through contact to an open wound. The infections can be either non-invasive or invasive; invasive being the most dangerous and life threatening. Necrotizing fasciitis is an invasive infection that can come from a strand a group a streptococcus. This infection is also referred to as the flesh eating bacteria, because when the strand evades the immune system it begins to attack the body’s soft tissue — sometimes forming gaping holes in the infected patient (7). The immune response is broken down into two steps: innate immunity and adaptive immunity. The innate immunity is what you are born with. It is nonspecific; meaning that the general immediate response is applied to invaders. Structures that are apart of the innate immune response are: the skin, tears, mucous membranes, cough reflex, and stomach acid (10). If the antigen gets past these barriers then it …show more content…
They discovered that streptolysin O is the key driver of increased toxicity in the pathogen. It also increasing the resistance to killing by human leukocytes and elevated levels of virulence in animal models of necrotizing fasciitis (11). Other researchers have found that when isolating streptolysin O from the pathogen, it is very easy to kill the pathogen by normal immune responses (12). With streptolysin O being the only thing that gives group a streptococcus its virulence, researchers have been able to refine their approach to finding a more specific answer. The most concrete idea as of recent is to create an inhibitor to shut off the enzyme streptolysin