Bacteremia

Blood cultures have always been a critical tool in the management of life-threatening conditions like septicemia, enteric fever, infective endocarditis, brucellosis etc. Manual or conventional blood cultures were performed by inoculating large volumes of blood into nutrient broth or biphasic media and repeated subcultures were performed to detect growth. Automated blood culture systems were introduced in early 1970’s. Today there are wide variety of systems available in the market. These have…

Healthcare acquired infections, or HAIs, are preventable infections that a patient obtains while receiving treatment for another infection or surgical condition. These types of infections can occur in a variety of clinical care settings such as acute care hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, dialysis facilities, outpatient care, and long-term care facilities. HAIs can be caused by the use of medical devices such as catheters, central lines, or ventilators, and by surgical procedures. In fact,…

Periodontitis and its relations to systemic health Periodontitis is considered to be an inflammatory disease which is characterized by destruction of the supporting structure of the teeth (periodontal ligament and alveolar bone). Its highly common and can change the quality of life of the affected patient. Periodontitis includes gingivitis, but the difference is that the gingivitis is reversible with good oral hygiene while in periodontitis is irreversible because it is extensive and is…

An End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patient in her 30’s has sickle-cell anemia. She has only dialyzed intermittently as an out-patient for a total of a month since admission almost three months ago. She has been hospitalized numerous times in that short duration. The dialysis clinic operates within a certain guideline that prompts movement from having the least recommended dialysis access to one that is considered the most effective and efficient. The patient has a central line as an access. The…

Sickle cell anemia is an autosomal recessive inherited disorder that affects red blood cells. The sickle cell gene inherited form both parents causes the production of structurally abnormal hemoglobin, clinical known as hemoglobin S, which cluster together, causing red blood cells to become rigid and develop a crescent shape. These sickled cells become trapped in small blood vessel and block them, reducing blood and oxygen flow in many parts of the body, and leading to tissue and organ damage.…

Antibiotic creams, also known as topical ointments are preparations designed to fight bacteria on the skin. The main difference between antibiotic creams and ointments is the oil to water ratio. For instance, ointments contain an average of 80% oil and 20% water while creams contain a relatively lower oil to water ratio. This is why ointments tend to feel greasier and stickier than creams. We have chosen three antibiotic creams and three antibiotic ointments in order to find out which…

Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia Pestis, usually carried by rodents and other small animals. It is a vector borne disease in humans, which means it is caused by bites from a flea that is infected with the disease, direct contact, inhalation, or ingestion of infected materials. There are three types of plague depending on the route of infection: bubonic, septicaemic, and pneumonic. There have been three major epidemics of plague throughout history. There have been…

Argument To initiate an argument that stands up for Staphylococcus aureus in being a helpful or good bacterium is something I just cannot do. I can argue that the bacteria S. aureus is a terrible and very communicable bacterium, that I can do! I, myself fought S. aureus in one of the worst places possible, my buttock! I know exactly how I caught it as well, I work in the medical field. Though not in a hospital where S. aureus is mostly contracted from hospital to patients, a clinic works…

Throughout the semester in the microbiology lab we have been taught how to conduct multiple experiments to identify microorganisms. Many of these experiments can be used on all different types of microorganisms but cumulatively they can help isolate a singular microorganism’s identity. At the beginning of the semester we were divided into several groups and were assigned an unknown of which we were tasked with identifying. Being assigned number 14 as our unknown, my group consisting of…

Background and Significance of the Problem Healthcare associated infections (HAIs) is a group of infections that patients get from receiving invasive procedures, devices, treatments, or simply from other patients while they stay in the hospitals. HAIs is a major problem in public health that can prolong the length of hospital stay, increase the rate of morbidity and mortality and create a significant financial burden on healthcare system (Arefian, Vogel, Kwetkat, & Hartmann, 2016; Zimlichman et…