Crossword 1 - Core Microbiology Flashcards
A 55 year old man presents with jaundice to his doctor. He spent 20 years of his life living in Africa, some of the time near rivers and freshwater lakes in which he liked to swim. Investigations lead to him having a liver biopsy showing cirrhosis. Microscopic examination of a stool sample shows egg shaped structures with lateral spines.
What is the disease?
Schistosomiasis
A 43 year man returns from 4 weeks in Nigeria. He develops a fever, headache and subsequently becomes confused and then comatose. P. falciparum is identified by serology.
What genus of vector is likely to have been responsible for spread of this infection?
Anopheles
What is anopheles?
a mosquito of a genus which is particularly common in warmer countries and includes the mosquitoes that transmit the malarial parasite to humans.
What is a genus?
a class of things that have common characteristics and that can be divided into subordinate kinds.
A 65 year old man has been homeless for 5 years. He is admitted to hospital after a collapse and coughing specks of blood. He is found to have consolidation and cavitation in the right lung apex on lung imaging. Long slender rod-shaped bacteria are identified on sputum microscopy but they do not stain with conventional Gram staining due to a thick waxy coat. These micro-organisms require a long course of treatment, often with a combination of drugs.
What are they?
Mycobacteria
What are mycobacteria? How do they differ from bacteria?
Mycobacteria have an outer membrane. They do not have capsules, and most do not form endospores. The distinguishing characteristic of all Mycobacterium species is that the cell wall is thicker than in many other bacteria, which is hydrophobic and waxy
A 77 year old woman falls at home and is admitted to hospital. She is found to be confused, to have electrolyte abnormalities and a raised white blood count. A urine sample grows Gram negative bacteria and it is concluded that the main cause of her confusion and blood abnormalities are a urinary tract infection.
Regarding the organisms most likely to have caused this infection, where in the body are they most commonly harmless colonisers?
Colon
A 7 year old girl develops pyrexia and a headache followed by bilateral parotid swelling. Her 21 year old brother develops similar symptoms 3 weeks later but also develops swollen tender testes.
By what route is this infection most likely to have been spread?
Respiratory
A 33 year old woman has repeated unsuccessful attempts to become pregnant. In the past she describes how she has had repeated episodes of lower abdominal pain. She is investigated and found to have extensive fibrous adhesions around both fallopian tubes. She is diagnosed with pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), attributed to a sexually transmitted infection.
Which micro- organism, that also causes visual impairment and blindness in millions of people around the world, especially those in poorest communities, is highly likely to have caused these findings?
Chlamydia
A 34 year old man falls from a ladder and fractures his cervical spine at the level of C2. He is diagnosed with acute spinal cord injury and requires mechanical ventilation. After several weeks on ventilation he develops lung consolidation and slowly deteriorates despite antibiotic therapy.
What “opportunistic” pathogen is high on the list of organisms responsible for the infection described?
Pseudomonas
What are pseudomonas? Why are they hard to treat?
Pseudomonas infections are diseases caused by a bacterium from the genus Pseudomonas.
Pseudomonas is a type of bacteria that can cause lung infections. It mainly affects people who already have a lung condition or who have a problem with their immune system.
Why are pseudomonas hard to treat?
It doesn’t respond to commonly-used antibiotics, which means infections can be hard to treat.
A 27 year old man returns to the UK after 3 months back packing around South East Asia. He develops fever, headache and nausea and 10 days later becomes mildly jaundiced. Blood tests show high transaminases. Serological testing shows evidence of a microbe considered most likely to have been spread by the faecal-oral route.
Which type of microbe is most likely to have caused this?
Virus
A 25 year old develops a fever and headache and feels tired. Subsequently they notice painful groin nodes, pain when urinating and shortly afterwards develop tender ulcers on the external genitalia. Their long term sexual partner also has a history of recurrent painful genital ulcers.
Which microbe is likely to have caused the findings in both individuals?
HSV2 (Herpes)
