Sketchy Micro: Klebsiella, Enterobacter, Serratia Flashcards
The two most common infections caused by Klebsiella, Serratia, and Enterobacter are ______________.
pneumonia and UTI (like the hospitalized patient’s respiratory mask and urine bag)
All three of these bacteria –Enterobacter, Klebsiella, and Serratia –are common _______________.
nosocomial infections (hence the hospital setting) and multi-drug resistant (like the bottles of pills spilled out ineffectively onto the floor)
Because they ferment ________, Enterobacter, Klebsiella, and Serratia all grow pink on ______________.
lactose (like the milk carton); MacKonkey agars (just like the pink letters on the milk carton)
What kind of agar does MacKonkey select for?
Lactose fermenters, which turn pink (“Old MacKonkey had a cow”)
What is the distinguishing feature for Enterobacter?
It is motile (just like the pterodactyl that represents it).
Two features distinguish Serratia: _________________.
it is also motile (represented by the charging triceratops) and it produces bright red pigment (like the bright red coloring of the triceratops or the shower drain situation the narrator mentioned).
Which of these bacteria present with the three A’s?
Klebsiella (think of the three A’s in its tail: alcoholics, abscesses, and aspiration)
Klebsiella is unique among these three because it is _____________.
immotile (like the dinosaur’s feet stuck in the jelly)
The classic description of Klebsiella pneumonia is _______________.
currant jelly sputum (like the jelly that the Klebsiella dinosaur spilled)
Which of these is covered with a polysaccharide capsule?
Klebsiella (like the mossy stuff on the Klebsiella dino’s spikes)
Klebsiella pneumonia can mimic ________.
TB (like the cavitary lesion shown on the x-ray)
Klebsiella is __________-positive.
urease (like how the patient is spraying the Klebsiella dino with ammonia)
Klebsiella, Enterobacter, and Serratia are all ________________.
Gram-negative rods
