Intro to microbiology Flashcards
What is the acronym to remember the intro by ?
BD KT LMP SS
What does the acronym stand for?
B - D - domains of life K - Kosh's postulants T - Tests L - look M - Microbiology P - pathogenicity S - Sterile S - Symptoms and signs
What are the three domains of life?
Bacteria (Prokaryote)
Archaea (Prokaryote)
Eucarya (Eukaryote)
What is microbiology?
The study of microorganisms
Microbials can be arranged in size order ….
Large Parasites Fungi Bacteria Virus Prions Smallest
What are prions?
Protein of unknown function that resides on the surface of brain cells
What regions of the body are sterile and what regions are not?
Sterile - Brain, Heart, Liver and Kidney
Non-sterile - Mouth, Oesophagus, Lungs, Stomach and Intestine
Samples that can be taken to identify microbiology infection
- Urine
- Sputum
- Throat swab
- Wound swab
- Faeces
- Blood
- Cerebrospinal fluid
- Pus
- Bone
What is a pathogen?
An organism which can cause disease
What is a commensal?
Organism that is part of normal flora.
What was Kosh’s postulates ?
His postulates are that for an organism to have caused an disease it must be found in every case of the disease, be able to be culture outside the body for several generations and should reproduce the disease on inoculation.
What are the signs and symptoms of infection ?
Possible signs and symptoms include inflammation, pain, pyrexia, trachycardia, rigors, increased white cell count and increased C reactive protein (CRP).
What is pathogenicity?
This is the capacity of a micro-organism to cause an infection and includes its Infectivity (its ability to become established – things like attachment and acid resistance) and its virulence (its ability to cause harmful effects once established. This is dependant on virulence factors many of which are determined genetically (invasiveness, toxin production, evasion of the immune system) Virulence is specific to strains not species. Some microbes are Superantigens which are able to stimulate division of T cells causing massive cytokine production resulting in “toxic shock”)
How can you look at microorganisms?
Light microscope (Bacteria and parasites)
Serology (parasites and viruses)
Stain (bacteria)
PCR test (viruses)
Examples of stains
Gram stains and fluorescent dyes.
