Staphylococcus capitis belong to the superordinate bacterial group of cocci and colonize human skin and mucous membranes of the nose as a communal. For healthy people, contact with Staphylococcus capitis is not tragic. Immunocompromised patients, however, may develop symptoms of poisoning and even endocarditis due to the contract of the bacteria to the interior of the body.
What are staphylococcus capitis?
Staphylococcus is a spherical bacteria with gram-positive properties. Staphylococcus is a colloquial term. The scientific generic name is Staphylococcus. Some staphylococci possess the ability to produce free coagulase. In this context, a distinction is made within the species between coagulase-positive and coagulase-negative staphylococci. Staphylococcus capitis are a species within the genus of coagulase-positive staphylococci. Although bacteria of the species Staphylococcus capitis are a natural element of the human skin flora, they can be dangerous for immunocompromised patients. This is especially true when the bacteria invade the body. In the context of skin flora, the bacteria are called commensals and do not harm humans because they do not feed parasitically on substances that humans themselves need to survive. In the context of immunodeficient patients, on the other hand, there is no longer talk of a communal relationship, but rather of pathological characteristics. Thus, bacteria of the species Staphylococcus capitis may well be associated with disease value for humans, even though they physiologically colonize the skin of healthy individuals without disease value. All staphylococci belong to the higher group of cocci.
Occurrence, distribution, and characteristics
Bacteria of the species Staphylococcus capitis live preferentially on the skin and in the mucous membranes of humans or other warm-blooded animals. Warm-blooded organisms provide a particularly suitable environment for them to grow, as the temperature optimum for bacteria to multiply is between 30 and 37 degrees Celsius. On the skin, they are tolerated by the human immune system because they behave inconspicuously. The bacteria are not rod-shaped bacteria, but spherical cells with a diameter between 0.5 and 1.5 µm. Staphylococci are arranged singly, in pairs, or in grape-like clusters and have no ability to actively move. All staphylococci grow facultatively anaerobic. That is, they can metabolize even in the absence of oxygen. However, their metabolism also functions when oxygen is present in their environment. In addition to the skin and mucous membranes of warm-blooded animals, the bacteria also colonize the environment and are thus found, for example, in the air, in water or in food. Their energy metabolism is mostly oxidative and is referred to as fermentative. In this context, they convert organic substances enzymatically. Instead of oxidase, they possess catalase: an enzyme that converts hydrogen peroxide to oxygen and water for energy production. The bacteria do not form spores and are not equipped with capsules. In most cases, transmission from one individual to a second individual occurs via smear infection. This means that skin contact is the decisive moment. Not only skin contact with contaminated individuals, but also contact with contaminated objects can carry the bacteria into the body, especially in connection with food. Since the bacteria colonize different areas of the skin as a communal, self-infection can also take place. For example, an individual may carry the microorganisms from one colonized skin site to other areas, promoting colonization of the interior of the body. Usually, the bacteria inside the body are not tolerated by the immune system and cannot spread further. However, in people with a weak immune system, the contract to the interior of the body can occur without a defensive reaction of the immune system and, in this context, causes pathological clinical symptoms.
Diseases and ailments
As long as staphylococci reside outside the human body, they show no effect on humans. Pathologic phenomena do not present themselves until the bacteria are carried inside the body by smear infection or self-infection.In healthy people, the immune system counteracts such an event. However, infections with staphylococci are within the realm of possibility, especially in people with weakened immune systems. Sometimes the species Staphylococcus captis is referred to as the hospital germ, as it is estimated that 90 percent of hospital staff are infected with the bacteria. Infections manifest themselves in immunodeficient patients, especially inform poisoning. The bacteria excrete enterotoxins as metabolites into the surrounding substrate. These toxins are protein-like structures that can cause certain symptoms of poisoning. Enterotoxins primarily cause vomiting above a certain dose. The enterotoxins act in the abdominal organs on sympathetic fibers in the brain that are connected to the vomiting center. In addition, the toxins affect the kidneys, liver, lungs, and gastrointestinal tract. In the early phase of infection, the enterotoxins cause increased salivation, which is associated with nausea, retching, and diarrhea in addition to vomiting. In particularly severe, although rare, cases, shock or mucus and blood in the stool and vomit result. In some circumstances, hypokalemic muscle paralysis occurs in the late phase. Patients often have a below-average body temperature. Fever is rarely observed. In addition, endocarditis may occur in association with infection. This is an inflammation of the inner lining of the heart that is often accompanied by symptoms of valvular or ischemic heart failure and, in addition, sometimes causes renal damage.
