Question

Approximately 2 days after a wild weekend in New Orleans, Joe G., your lab partner in microbiology class, who had bragged of winning the raw oyster eating contest at “Slimy’s” oyster bar became very ill. He abruptly started to vomit. Within hours he was restricted to the bathroom with nasty watery diarrhea. He soon became light headed with a rapid thready pulse. His girlfriend wisely took him to the emergency room. He was found to be afebrile but severely dehydrated with altered levels of serum electrolytes.

            a. What was the probable causative agent of Joe’s infection?

            b. What is the major virulence factor of this bacterial organism?

            c. How would such a disease be treated?

            d. Name two ways this disease can be prevented

                        ____________________,________________________

Answer 1

Answer a. Diarrhea is generally caused by two organisms after eating raw oyesters one is vibrio vulnificus and another one is Norovirus. However, the symptoms presented in the question indicates watery diarrhea and light headedness, which in this case might be caused by Norovirus. So, the probable causative agent of Joe's infection was Norovirus. Norovirus belongs to the Calciviridae family of viruses and are ssRNA positive strand viruses.

Answer b. Virulence factor of this virus includes the identification and binding to several histo-blood group antigens. Blood group antigens most likely serve as receptors for noroviruses.

Answer c. Generally Norovirus infection is cleared after 2-3 days of infection without the need for treatment. Although severe cases can be treated by the administration of interferon alpha, interferon gamma and ribavirin. They have been known to inhibit this virus and reduce the effect of noroNorov gastroenteritis.

Answer d. This disease can be prevented by washing the hands properly and avoiding contaminated food and water. Cooking seafood properly and disinfecting the contaminated surfaces are also important points to remember if we want to avoid Norovirus infection.