Clostridium Perfringens (Gas Gangrene)
Period of illness
Acute
Oxygen requirements
Anaerobic
Serious complications
Can be fatal if decreased blood pressure results in shock or kidney failure
Preventive measures
Clean skin injuries thoroughly and watch for signs of infection
Distinguishing features
Deadly form of tissue death that causes painful swelling due to gas expelled from the bacteria, develops quickly
Gram stain, morphology
Gram positive, rod
Contagious period
Not contagious
Motility
Not motile
High risk individuals
People with diabetes, atherosclerosis, or colon cancer
Portals of entry
Site of injury, trauma, puncture or surgical wound
Reservoir
Soil
Spores
Spore forming
Method of transmission
Through and injury site or puncture wound
Parts of host body infected
Tissue at infection site
Signs/Symptoms
Tissue death at injury site, swollen areas that contain gas and are brownish-red in color
Geographic occurrence
Worldwide
Diagnostic methods
tissue, fluid, and blood cultures are tested with gram stain, isolate bacteria on slide
Incubation period
1-5 days, can start within 10 hours
