MYCOPLASMAS CASE STUDY

Mycoplasmas Case study



Mycoplasmas Case study

Introduction

Tylyn John experienced the first hints there was something wrong around the time of her son's birth in 1998. A year later, her symptoms included Raynaud's in her fingers, extreme fatigue, and tightening of the skin in her hands and forearms. Her scleroderma was diagnosed at UCLA in the summer of 1999.

Analysis

The mycoplasma are a very large group of bacteria. There are more than 70 types. Mycoplasma hominis and Mycoplasma pneumoniae are among the dozen types of mycoplasma that occur in humans. Mycoplasma hominis is a common inhabitant of the vagina and can cause infections of the female and male genital tracts.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae can infect the upper respiratory tract and the lungs. It is a major cause of respiratory infection in children of school age and young adults. It is also a common cause of pneumonia in persons with HIV. Certain antibiotics including tetracycline and erythromycin are frequently used to treat infection with Mycoplasma hominis or Mycoplasma pneumoniae.

She was told very little about what could be done for her disease, and even less about what to expect. However, the father of one of her friends was a researcher in another branch of medicine. He began scouring the internet for information on her disease and with it, perhaps some badly needed hope (Haier etal, 1999).

At their first meeting in mid-December, the tightness in the skin had advanced to Tylyn's upper arms and shoulders, and was becoming evident in her mouth and cheeks. There was also severe temporal mandibular joint involvement; she was able to open her mouth six centimeters at their first meeting, but by the following February it was down to 3.5; two month later, in response to the minocycline, it was back up to 4.6. Doctor noted that Tylyn had ...