How does the bubonic plague affect the lymphatic system?

How does the bubonic plague affect the lymphatic system?

Bubonic plague infects your lymphatic system (a part of the immune system), causing inflammation in your lymph nodes. Untreated, it can move into the blood (causing septicemic plague) or to the lungs (causing pneumonic plague).

What happens to the body when it is infected with bubonic plague?

After being transmitted via the bite of an infected flea, the Y. pestis bacteria become localized in an inflamed lymph node, where they begin to colonize and reproduce. Infected lymph nodes develop hemorrhages, which result in the death of tissue.

What are the lumps from bubonic plague?

In most people, large swollen areas develop around the lymph nodes, usually at the neck, groin, and armpits. These lumps are called buboes, and it is from this word that we get the most common name we use for the Black Death: The bubonic plague.

What is the physical structure of the bubonic plague?

Bubonic plague In this form of the infection, bacteria infiltrate the lymph nodes, causing enlarged, painful, tender lymph nodes called buboes. Accompanying flu-like symptoms include fever, chills, headaches, and weakness. If not treated, the infection can spread to other areas of the body.

Can flea bites cause swollen lymph node?

Patients develop fever, headache, chills, and weakness and one or more swollen, painful lymph nodes (called buboes). This form usually results from the bite of an infected flea. The bacteria multiply in a lymph node near where the bacteria entered the human body.

How does Yersinia pestis get to the lymph nodes?

While attempting to obtain a blood meal, a Y. pestis-infected flea regurgitates bacteria into the bite site, thus introducing the bacteria into a new host. Once delivered into the dermis, the bacteria migrate or are transported to the regional draining lymph node.

Why does plague cause gangrene?

Most people who receive prompt antibiotic treatment survive bubonic plague. Untreated plague has a high fatality rate. Gangrene. Blood clots in the tiny blood vessels of your fingers and toes can disrupt blood flow and cause that tissue to die.

Do bug bites cause lymph nodes to swell?

Infections or abscesses may develop within an enlarged lymph node, causing redness and tenderness. the immune system—even bug bites—can cause enlarged nodes.

How does Yersinia pestis damage the body?

The plasminogen activator (Pla) protein of Y. pestis facilitates the adhesion and invasion of the bacterium to the extracellular matrix of host tissues [19]. Pla induces the activation of plasminogen into plasmin, which causes proteolysis and damage to host tissues (18).