Talking to micro …
Andrew Stewart, Rory Mackinnon in Pocket On Call, 2015
Microbiology is a medical specialty dealing with complex infections. Your main encounters as an F1 will be discussing patients with the on-call microbiologist to determine the most appropriate antibiotic therapy. Certain antibiotics also require a ‘code’ to be provided by microbiology before they can be prescribed. This comprises a series of numbers and letters which must be documented on the drug card. Before ringing micro, make sure you know the following: Basic patient details.Site of infection (pneumonia, UTI, etc.).Antibiotic therapy so far.Any allergies to antibiotics (make sure you know the type of reaction if possible).Recent antibiotic courses.Recent blood results – particularly white cell count (WCC) and inflammatory markers.Any recent culture results.Body temperature and observations (OBS).
M
Anton Sebastian in A Dictionary of the History of Medicine, 2018
Microbiology [Greek: micros, small + bios, life + logos, discourse] The earliest recorded attempt to view microscopic organisms was made in 1658 by Athanasius Kircher (1601–1680), a Jesuit priest. He examined blood in plague victims in his primitive microscope with a magnification of only 32, and described what he saw as ‘worms’ of plague in Scrutium Pestis. Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723), a Dutch lens maker described ‘animalcules’, mostly protozoan organisms in 1674. He also identified and described bacteria from samples of material taken from his teeth. Modern microbiology was established by Louis Pasteur (1822–1895) with his study of the chemical activities of microorganisms in 1857. The link between microbiology and biochemistry was further strengthened by Russian microbiologist, Sergei N. Winogradsky around 1900. See bacteriology.
Biology of microbes
Philip A. Geis in Cosmetic Microbiology, 2006
The bacteria play a major role in the world’s ecosystems. They are so ubiquitous and important that they are considered by some to be the lifeblood of the planet. According to the Gaia hypothesis, they are involved in biogeochemical cycling to maintain Earth’s homeostasis.7 They occupy every conceivable niche and some that we may not have even dreamed possible. Their ubiquity means they are found throughout cosmetic and drug manufacturing plants. An area the size of a single pinhead may contain well over a billion bacterial cells. A single handful of soil represents an entire universe of bacterial possibilities, all capable of adapting to even the harshest environments. Well-preserved products and scrupulously clean manufacturing environments help prevent these organisms from establishing niches within consumer products, but their genetic adaptability and remarkable evolutionary capability present moving targets that are difficult to control without constant surveillance. This chapter presents an introduction to microbiology intended to enable even non-microbiologists to understand at least the basics of the very complex and ever-changing world of microorganisms.
Student perceptions of online and in-person microbiology laboratory experiences in undergraduate medical education
Published in Medical Education Online, 2020
Ross M. Brockman, John M. Taylor, Larry W. Segars, Veronica Selke, Tracey A. H. Taylor
During the time of data collection for this study, the discipline of microbiology was taught within a systems-based curriculum and was a component of most organ system courses throughout the first two (preclinical) years of the medical curriculum at Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences (KCU). According to a recent report, 45% of medical schools surveyed have similar microbiology curricula with some integration of microbiology within organ systems [7]. There were eleven microbiology laboratory teaching sessions during the first two years of the medical curriculum spread throughout the organ system courses. Most courses contained at least one microbiology laboratory activity (some contained more than one). For this research study, labs were offered in one of two formats: in-person (also known as wet labs) or online (otherwise known as dry labs).
Cultured Human Uveal Melanocytes Express/secrete CXCL1 and CXCL2 Constitutively and Increased by Lipopolysaccharide via Activation of Toll-like Receptor 4
Published in Current Eye Research, 2021
Dan-Ning Hu, Ruihua Zhang, Shen Yao, Codrin E. Iacob, Wei-En Yang, Richard Rosen, Shun-Fa Yang
We (DNH)57 have studied the microbial spectrum in ocular samples from endophthalmitis patients submitted to the microbiology laboratory at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary over the past 25 years and revealed that gram-negative organisms and fungi accounted for 10.3% and 4.6% of 988 consecutive culture-positive endophthalmitis isolates, respectively.57 These results suggested that nearly 15% of the endophthalmitis were related to activation of TLR4. CXCL1 and CXCL2 levels were significantly increased in the vitreous specimens from infectious endophthalmitis patients.58 Therefore, the activation of TLR4 and the increase in secretion of CXCL1/CXCL2 by UM may play a role in the immune response to relevant pathogens and in the prevention of intraocular infections.
How MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry can aid the diagnosis of hard-to-identify pathogenic bacteria – the rare and the unknown
Published in Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics, 2019
Markus Kostrzewa, Elisabeth Nagy, Percy Schröttner, Arthur B. Pranada
Definitive identification could be achieved by 16S rRNA sequencing and resulted in Auritidibacter ignavus, a gram-positive rod-shaped bacterium that had been described about one year earlier [106]. The type strain of this species had been isolated from an ear swab of a man with otitis externa. From the bacterial biomass, a new custom MSP was created for the local MALDI-TOF MS system. With this new MSP, two other isolates could be identified from routine samples within the following month. These were also confirmed as A. ignavus by sequencing and were used for MSP creation. This enabled the detection of this until-then unseen species (Figure 2(c)). In the following years until March 2019, these new reference spectra were hit in isolates from routine more than 200 additional times, mostly from cultures from ear swabs. This example shows the strength of MALDI-TOF MS for finding new (rare) bacteria again from clinical samples (unpublished data). This also contributes to the growing knowledge in medical microbiology as the clinical significance of microorganisms can now be easily assessed.
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