Pathogen, Disease:
Shigella, Shigellosis
Some Pathogen Profile Infographic Pointers
What is an infographic?
There are many online resources available to provide guidance and tips on how to make a science infographic. See the following link for an overview:
Check out the example poster style infographic provided on Zika Virus.
Make your profile visual and INCLUDE some images of the pathogen. A good source for images is the CDC Public Health Image Library (CDC PHIL), available at http://phil.cdc.gov/phil/home.asp.
These images are usually copyright free, and the CDC asks only that you credit the images appropriately, indicating the contributor and the fact that you obtained them from the CDC PHIL. For ANY images you use, you need to include the appropriate credits.
Where should you look for information for this assignment?
• Your Textbook! Microbiology: Principles and Explorations (10th edition), by JG Black and LJ Black.
Publisher: Wiley and Sons Inc. 2018.
• The NCBI Taxonomy Browser: for nomenclature and taxonomy, use your textbook and the NCBI taxonomy browser. The taxonomy browser gives complete names for bacteria and viruses, and is located at
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi
• PubMed or other journal databases: Numerous full text research and review papers are available either directly through PubMed (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/)
• Some useful indexes to use at the University Library’s subject
guide include the following (these are direct links if you are logged into the library website):
o ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health Source (recommended)
o CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature) Plus with Full Text
o Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition
o BMJ Journals
• Public Health Ontario – Infectious Diseases has information about each of the assigned pathogens. Look under the heading “Infectious Disease Topics”.
https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/BrowseByTopic/InfectiousDiseases/Pages/Infectious-Diseases.aspx
• Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has varied sources of information about these pathogens including information at the PHAC diseases page and information for health care professionals and the
Pathogen Safety Data Sheets
https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health.html; https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases.html
• The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/
• The CDC Diseases and Conditions Index has an alphabetical listing of pathogens; note you can simply type your pathogen into the “search” bar
• For images: CDC Public Health Image Library (CDC PHIL)
• The World Health Organization website: http://www.who.int/en/ including the Disease Outbreak News (DONs) feature at http://www.who.int/csr/don/en/index.html
Term Assignment Checklist
What should you include in your Pathogen Profile?
The aim of your pathogen profile is to provide specific information about key characteristics of the pathogen, and to add current information relevant in the healthcare setting. Each profile should provide information about the basic features of the pathogen outlined in the following checklist. Your pathogen profile should clearly state the following information in your own words.
Pathogenicity
Consider what makes your pathogen pathogenic!
o What are the key virulence factors?
o Are there typical “risk factors” associated with infections with this pathogen? For example, some pathogens target mainly children, some target immunosuppressed individuals.
o What type(s) of infections does the pathogen cause? Are the infections associated with a particular body location or system?
o Does it cause opportunistic infections?
o What are the outcomes of infection? What makes this pathogen a health problem?
o What are the typical host responses to your pathogen? ie) does it cause
inflammation? Immunosuppression? Septic shock? Are there long-term consequences (sequelae) for survivors?
Antibiotic and disinfectant resistance and susceptibility
o What is known about the range of antibiotic/antiviral drug or disinfectant resistance of this pathogen?
o What types of antimicrobial agents are effective against this pathogen?
o Are specific sterilization and disinfection routines in place for dealing with this pathogen in healthcare settings?