Fusobacterium necrophorum
| Fusobacterium necrophorum | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Bacteria |
| Phylum: | Fusobacteria |
| Order: | Fusobacteriales |
| Family: | Fusobacteriaceae |
| Genus: | Fusobacterium |
| Species: | F. necrophorum |
| Binomial name | |
|
Fusobacterium necrophorum (Flügge 1886) Moore and Holdeman 1969 |
|
Fusobacterium necrophorum is a species of bacteria responsible for Lemierre's syndrome and other medical problems.
F. necrophorum is a rod-shaped species of Gram-negative bacteria. It is an obligate anaerobe and is a common inhabitant of the alimentary tract within humans and animals.
F. necrophorum is responsible for 10% of acute sore throats, 21% of recurrent sore throats and 23% of peritonsillar abscesses with the remainder being caused by or viruses. Other complications from F. necrophorum include meningitis, complicated by thrombosis of the internal jugular vein, thrombosis of the cerebral veins, and infection of the urogenital and the gastrointestinal tracts.
Although this infection is rare, researchers agree that this diagnosis should be considered in a septicaemic patient with thrombosis in an unusual site, and underlying malignancy should be excluded in cases of confirmed F. necrophorum occurring at sites caudal to the head.
The above statistical analysis is dated, necessarily. A 2015 study of young adult students presenting to a single clinic in Alabama had F. necrophorum as the predominate causative organism for pharyngitis 21% of the time (and found in 9% of asymptomatic students). In the same study, Group A Streptococcus was found in 10% of pharyngitis patients (1% of asymptomatic students).
F. necrophorum infection (also called F-throat) usually responds to treatment with penicillin or metronidazole, but penicillin treatment for persistent pharyngitis appears anecdotally to have a higher relapse rate, although the reasons are unclear.
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Wikipedia