Microbiology Nuts & Bolts
  • Home
  • Basic Concepts
    • What is infection?
    • Normal flora
    • Diagnosing infection
  • Microbiology
    • Basic bacterial identification
    • Interpreting bacteriology results
    • Interpreting serology results
  • Infection Control
    • What is infection control?
    • Universal precautions
    • MRSA
    • Clostridium difficile
  • Clinical Scenarios
    • Respiratory infections
    • Urinary infections
    • GI infections >
      • D&V
      • CDAD
    • CNS infections
    • Skin & bone infections
    • Sepsis
  • Antibiotics
    • Antimicrobial Stewardship
    • How antibiotics work
    • How to choose an antibiotic?
    • Reviewing antibiotics
    • Antibiotic resistance
    • Testing antibiotic resistance
    • Penicillin allergy
    • Theraputic Drug Monitoring
  • Guidelines
  • Lectures & Lecture Notes
    • Medical Students
    • Curriculum for the Foundation Program
    • Foundation Year 1
    • Foundation Year 2
    • Other Lectures
  • The Bug Blog
  • Buy the book...
  • NEW Edition Updates
  • Peer Reviews
  • Want to know more?
  • Contact

WHO would you vaccinate?

26/1/2017

 
What three infections should be prioritised for vaccine development and why? This is the question that the World Health Organisation has had to answer in the last few weeks. It may seem simple and you may have your top three but I wonder if you agree with the WHO.
 
So what did the WHO decide were their priorities?
The WHO has a published list of Top 5 diseases likely to cause an epidemic in the near future. These were agreed by a panel of experts in 2015 and include:
  • Crimean Congo haemorrhagic fever, Ebola virus disease and Marburg
  • Lassa fever
  • Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus diseases
  • Nipah
  • Rift Valley fever
WHO Vaccine development

Read More

Helicopter pylon… curse that spell checker!

19/1/2017

 
​The Microbiologist recently received a letter from a colleague asking for advice about how to manage a patient with Helicopter pylon. After a little pondering, it was decided that in fact advice was really required for a patient with Helicobacter pylori who had had failed two courses of treatment and was still symptomatic for peptic ulcer disease. It was clear that the automatic spell checker had made its own diagnosis! Spell checkers are a nightmare in medicine but often lead to some interesting questions. The colleague was asking whether the microbiology laboratory could perform culture and sensitivity on a biopsy sample and if so how the sample should be sent. There was also a question about what antibiotics to use next to treat the patient.
Helicobacter pylori, peptic ulcers, gastritis

Read More

PUO, what do you know?

12/1/2017

 
​A patient was admitted with a temperature of 38.5oC with a normal heart rate and blood pressure. There was no obvious focus of infection. The patient was started on IV Piptazobactam because he was febrile and blood cultures were sent to the lab. Three days later the doctors rang the Microbiologist for advice on their patient with pyrexia of unknown origin (PUO). The Microbiologist tried to explain this was not a patient with PUO; this was just a patient with a fever… “a PUO is not just a patient with a fever for whom you do not yet have a diagnosis…” they also explained that their management of IVs and blood cultures was a little over the top and not really helpful in aiding a diagnosis!  
 
So what is a PUO? How should it be managed? Why does the management of PUO often go wrong?

​
What is pyrexia of unknown origin?

Read More

    RSS Feed

    Facebook has deleted the Microbiology Nuts & Bolts pages - if you want your weekly dose of microbiology then you will need to come here, and we look forward to you continuing to read it!

    Blog Author:

    David Garner
    Consultant Microbiologist
    Surrey, UK

    Please DO NOT advertise products and conferences on our website or blog

    Categories

    All
    Antibiotic Resistance
    Antibiotics
    Basic Concepts
    Clinical Scenarios
    Guidelines
    Infection Control
    In The News
    Microbiology

    Archives

    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013

    Categories

    All
    Antibiotic Resistance
    Antibiotics
    Basic Concepts
    Clinical Scenarios
    Guidelines
    Infection Control
    In The News
    Microbiology

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.