Synonyms
Inhalational anthrax; Respiratory anthrax; Anthrax pneumonia; Wool-sorter’s disease; Blackbane (medieval term)
Definition and Characteristics
Pulmonary anthrax is an infectious disease caused by the inhalation of bacillus anthracis spores. B. anthracis is an aerobic, Gram-positive, spore-forming, non-motile bacillus species [1]. Following infection, the bacilli proliferate, producing their main virulence factors: a capsule and two toxins (edema toxin [ET] and lethal toxin [LT]). Anthrax meningitis is a common complication of pulmonary anthrax. The 50% lethal dose in humans has been estimated at 40,000 spores.
Spore inhalation is followed by a period of incubation ranging from 1 to 10 days (range of 4–6 days for the US outbreak in 2001), but infection may occur up to 43 days after spore inhalation (Sverdlosk outbreak, 1979). The clinical presentation of anthrax comprises two stages. In the first stage, patients report atypical flu-like signs including fever, chills, cough,...
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© 2009 Springer-Verlag GmbH Berlin Heidelberg
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Tournier, JN. (2009). Pulmonary Anthrax. In: Lang, F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Molecular Mechanisms of Disease. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29676-8_3234
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29676-8_3234
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-67136-7
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