Microbiology Flashcards
Name traits that increase an invaders chance of success
- high growth rates
- dispersal capability
- phenotypic plasticity
- genetic diversity
Describe abiotic resistance as a barrier to invasion
- pH
- temperature
- salinity
Describe biotic resistance as a barrier to invasion
- competition
- antagonism
- predation
Describe the pathology of infection
- exposure
- adhesion
- invasion
- colonisation
- toxicity
- tissue damage and disease
What is colonisation?
The establishment of a microorganism on or within a host, it may be short lived
What is a pathogen?
Any microorganism that has the potential to cause disease
What is virulence?
The likelihood of causing disease, opportunistic pathogen, accidental pathogen
Name infections in the abdomen
- peritonitis (primary and secondary)
- oral infections
- oesophagitis
- gastritis, duodenitis
- hepatitis, liver abscess
- cholecystitis, cholangitis
- pancreatitis
- small bowel
- gastroenteritis, abscesses
- perineal abscesses
Describe microbiological tests for enterobacteriaceae
- ferment glucose (and other CHO), this produces acid
- blood agar
- MacConkey agar, lactose fermenters turns it pink
- CED agar, cysteine lactose electrolyte deficient
- chromogenic agar
Describe enterobacteriaceae
- 53 genera (26 cause human infection)
- gram negative
- non-spore forming
- grow on a variety of solid media
- ferment sugars
- facultative anaerobes mostly
- motile or non motile
- increasing resistance
How can Enterobacteriaceae cause disease
- motility; flagella allows movement, shigella and klebsiella are not mobile
- colonisation factors; fimbriae
- endotoxin; cell wall component
- enterotoxin; eg. shiga toxin
Describe classification of Enterobacteriaceae
- biochemical and antigenic characteristics
- DNA hybridisation has changed much of the classification
- many new genera discovered
- reclassification of many genera
What is MALDI-TOF?
Mass spectrometry
Describe the characteristics of MALDI-TOF
- identification quick
- accurate and effective
- low cost process
Describe characteristics of gram stain, bacterial agglutination and metabolic tests
- give first orientations (gm +ve/-ve, morphology)
- determines where or not there is oxidase and catalase
Describe characteristics of API test strips
- a prior knowledge of microorganism
- a lot of strips and reagents allow to identify bacteria
- each bacterial family have specific strips
Describe the normal flora of the bowel
- mouth; strep viridans, Neisseria sp, anaerobes cadida sp, staphylococci
- stomach / duodenum (low pH); usually sterile, few cadida sp and staphylococci may survive
- jejunum; small numbers of coliforms and anaerobes
- colon; faecal flora, large numbers of coliforms, anaerobes and enterococcus faecalis
- bile ducts; usually sterile
Describe anaerobes in the GI tract
- strict anaerobes; will not grow in the presence of oxygen
- c diff, bacteroides sp and anaerobic cocci
- present in large number in the large bowel
Describe GI infection risk factors
- malnutrition (micronutrient) deficiency
- closed / semi closed communities
- exposure to contaminated food / water / travel
- winter congregating / summer floods
- age <5 not breastfeeding
- older age
What is acid suppression a risk factor for?
- Yersinia enterocolitica, h pylori tolerant of acid
- c diff more common with acid suppression
- vibrio cholera, non-typhoidal slamonella., campylobacter jejuni, listeria, some e coli
What is immunosuppression a risk factor for?
- salmonella, campylobacter, shigella shed for longer
- other organisms that are uncommon in immune competent
Describe inoculum size
- median infecting dose required to cause disease in 50%
- low infectious doses make spread easier
- pH affects required dose
What is diarrhoea?
- > 3 unformed stool / day
- no other cause; exclude laxative use / abuse and other drugs / stimulants
- stools holds the shape of container
- departure from normal bowel habit
- use Bristol stool chart
Describe dysentery
- inflammation of the intestine, particularly the colon, causing diarrhoea associated with blood and mucus
- examples include shigella, campylobacter
- generally associated with fever, abdominal pain and rectal tenesmus (sense of incomplete defaecation)
What can mimic appendicitis as it may invade mesenteric nodes?
Yersinia enterocolitica
Describe gastroenteritis
- an illness caused by eating food contaminated with micro-organisms, toxins, poisons etc
- bacteria
- usually have GI symptoms (diarrhoea, abdo pain, vomiting)
- large volume tends to be small bowel
- cholera causes large volume diarrhoea
- invasion of tissue +/- toxin production
Describe the history of gastroenteritis
- diarrhoea frequency, blood, mucous, time course
- other symptoms
- epidemiology (travel, contacts- human and animal)
- food history (time, type, storage, reheating, washing)
- contacts
- age of patient
- co morbidities
- medication history
What does shiga toxin do?
- binds to receptors found on renal cells, RBC and others
- inhibit protein synthesis
- causes cell death
Describe presentation of haemolytic ureamic syndrome
- abdo pain, fever, pallor, petechiae, obliguria
- bloody diarrhoea
- high white cells
- low platelets
- low Hb
- red cell fragments
- LDH >1.5 x normal
- may develop after diarrhoea stopped
Describe HUS investigation
- send stool culture samples; all patients with bloody faeces
- send U and E, FBC, film, LFT, clotting, urine (dipstick / micro), lactate dehydrogenase
Describe role of health protection unit
- you must notify Health protection unit of haemolytic ureamic syndrome or 0157
- contact tracing and investigation
- environmental health inspect food premises
- al lab confirmed cases are routinely reported to the local HPU
- advise on return to work for high risk groups (hospital staff, food handlers, nursery staff and children)
Describe enterotoxigenic e coli pathotypes
- produces heat labile and heat stable toxin
- heat stable toxin similar to cholera and Yersinia toxins
- travel related
Describe enteropathogenic e coli pathotypes
- attaching and effacing lesions. No toxin, not invasive
- synthesises, secretes and inserts its own receptor into cell membranes
- non breastfed children
- can be asymptomatic
Describe enteroinvasive e coli pathotypes
- watery diarrhoea, rare dysentery
- demonstrates invasion
- sereny test
Describe enteroaggregative e coli pathotypes
- travellers diarrhoea
- new kid on the block
- cytogenic, secretogenic, proinflammatory
Describe campylobacter species
- 16-48hrs incubation
- sporadic
- food; poultry (raw milk)
- small pathogen numbers
- invasive
- pain, blood, fever
- may be admitted
- food hygiene (raw poultry especially)
- macrolide
- less likely to spread person to person
- most common
Name the campylobacter human pathogenic strains (enteric)
- c jejuni subspecies
- c jejuni subspecies doylei
- campylobacter coli
- campylobacter upsaliensis
- campylobacter lari
- c fetus subspecies fetus
- campylobacter hyointestinalis
- campylobacter concisus
Describe salmonella enteritidis
- 12-48hr incubation
- food; poultry, meat, raw egg
- animal gut, multiplies in food
- toxin and invasion
- d and v, blood, fever