Clinical Study Questions (Bacteriology) Flashcards
What are the four different sterilizatioin methods commonly used in the lab, including their applications?
- moist heat - destroys at least the vegetative forms of bacteria; 2. dry heat - sterilizes inoculating loops and needles, and destroys discarded patient samples; 3. ionizing radiation - sterilizes disposable supplies; 4. disinfectants/chemical agents - destroys microorganisms via membrane damage, protein denaturation, and RNA/DNA damage
What is the primary stain used in the Gram stain procedure?
crystal violet
What is the mordant in a Gram stain?
Gram’s iodine
What is the decolorizer in a Gram stain?
95% ethyl alcohol
What is the counterstain in a Gram stain?
safranin
At the end of the Gram staining procedure, what is the appearance of Gram positive and negative cells, respectively?
purple (+), red (=)
What is the reason for the different staining properties of Gram+ and Gram= cells?
Gram= cells have more lipid in their cell walls than Gram+ cells do; this allows the decolorizing agent to penetrate the cell wall of Gram= cells more easily, which decolorizes them and in turn allows them to take up the counterstain
How is a smear from solid media prepared for Gram stain?
bacterial specimen is picked up with a sterile inoculating loop and suspended in a drop of sterile water on a glass slide, which is then spread over a small area of the slide; this is allowed to air dry, and then the specimen is heat fixed by passing the slide quickly through a flame 2-3 times; the slide is then ready for staining
What is the streak plate method for obtaining a pure culture?
An inoculum of organism is placed near the edge of an agar plate and streaked over the first quadrant with an inoculating loop. The second quadrant is then streaked with the same loop, passing into the first quadrant once or twice. Continue in this way through the third and fourth quadrants, but be sure NOT to pass back into the first quadrant when completing the fourth.
What is the pour plate method and how is it used?
method of creating agar plates by inoculating melted agar in a serial dilution before pouring it into a series of Petri plates. It is used to estimate the number of organisms in water, milk, or food, and is generally used by public health labs.
What is the significance of a colony count in urine?
urine is a normally sterile fluid, so the presence of bacteria not attributed to contamination is indicative of infection
How is a colony count determined?
the number of organisms present are graded as few, moderate, or many on the basis of Gram stains and plate growth
What is the significance of Gram stains in terms of colony counts?
differences in the amount of growth of different organisms may be related to their fastidiousness
What is the process for culturing tissue samples sent from the operating room?
using aseptic technique, the tissue is finely minced with scissors into a mortar and pestle, or ground with a tissue grinder, with a small amount of water; the resulting liquid suspension is then placed on the appropriate media for routine, fungal, or AFB culture
What visible signs are suggestive of growth in a blood culture bottle being read manually?
hemolysis; turbidity; gel-like appearance (due to coagulase or Staphylococcus); “stuff” floating on top (yeast or strict aerobe); gas bubbles (especially with Clostridium); color change (green may indicate S. pneumoniae, brown may be beta-Strep); colonies on top of RBCs
What is done with blood cultures that are read manually and do not display any visible signs of growth?
automatically subculture after 24 and 48 hours, and then again before reporting out as negative; if the physician suspects fungi, bottles must be held for 4 weeks; Brucella, 3 weeks; tuberculosis, 8 weeks
What might explain the frequent isolation of low grade or opportunistic pathogens from blood culture bottles?
contaminated samples
When might sterility testing be done on blood for transfusion?
As per the WHO, all donated blood units are tested mandatorily for HIV, viral hepatitis, syphilis, and malaria. Once units are received, if any hemolysis, discoloration, or turbidity is seen, units are quarantined and tested before use.
What is the appearance of alpha hemolysis on SBA?
partial hemolysis, often with green-appearing area arounf the colonies
What is the appearance of beta hemolysis on SBA?
complete hemolysis, appearing as a clear zone around the colonies
What is the appearance of alpha prime hemolysis on SBA?
small zone of alpha hemolysis surrounding the colony, with a wide zone of beta hemolysis extending into the media
What is the appearance of gamma hemolysis on SBA?
no hemolysis
What is wide-zone alpha hemolysis?
another name for alpha prime hemolysis
Why is it clinically useful to group beta-hemolytic streptococci?
Group A causes severe, life-threatening illnesses such as pneumonia, septicemia, and meningitis; they are also the only kind resistant to bacitracin. While Group B can also cause septicemia and neonatal meningitis, they can sometimes be normal flora as well.