Microbiology Flashcards
(113 cards)
Gram stain limitations
Treponema (too thin to be visualized), Mycobacteria (high lipid content in cell wall detected by carbolfuchsin in acid-fast stain), Mycoplasma (no cell wall), Legionella pneumophila (primarily intracellular, silver stain), Rickettsia (ntracellular parasite), Chlamydia (intracellular parasite; lacks muramic acid in cell wall).
Giemsa stain
Chlamydia, Borrelia, Rickettsiae, Trypanosomes, Plasmodium
PAS (periodic acid-Schiff)
Stains glycogen, mucopolysaccharides; used to diagnose Whipple disease (Tropheryma whipplei).
Ziehl-Neelsen (carbol fuchsin)
Acid-fast organisms (Nocardia, Mycobacterium)
India ink
Cryptococcus neoformans (mucicarmine can also be used to stain thick polysacchardie capsule red).
Silver stain
Fungi (e.g., Pneumocystis), Legionella, H. pylori
Special culture requirements
H. influenzae (chocolate agar with factors V (NAD+) and X (hematin); N gonorrhoeae, N. meningitidis (Thayer-Martin (or VPN) media - Vancomycin (inhibits gramp-positive organisms), Polyymyxin (inhibits gram-negative organisms except Neisseria), and Nystatin (inhibits fungi); “to connect to Neisseria, please use your VPN client”; B. pertussis (Bordet-Gengou (potato) agar); C diphtheriae (Tellurite agar, Loffler medium); M tuberculosis (lowenstein-Jensen agar); M. pneumoniae (Eaton agar, requires cholesterol); Lactose-fermenting enterics (Pink colonies on MacConkey agar (fermentation produces acid, turning colony pink) E. coli is also grown on eosin-methylene blue (EMB) agar as colonies with green metallic sheen); Legionella (Charcoal yeast extract agar buffered with cysteine and iron); Fungi (Sabouradud agar)
Obligate aerobes
Nocardia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Obligate anaerobes
Clostridium, Bacteroides, and Actinomyces
Obligate intracellular
Rickettsia, Chlamydia
Facultative intracellular
Salmonella, Neisseria, Brucella, Mycobacterium, Listeria, Francisella, Legionella, Yersinia pestis
Encapsulated bacteria
“SHiNE SKiS” Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae type B, Neisseria meningitidis, Eschericia coli, Salmonella, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and group B Strep
Catalase-positive organisms
Psuedomonas, Listeria, Aspergillus, Candida, E. coli, S. aureus, Serratia
Encapsulated bacteria vaccines
Pneumococcal vaccine, H. influenzae type B, Meningococcal
Urease-positive bugs
Cryptococcus, H. pylori, Proteus, Ureaplasma, Nocardia, Klebsiella, S. epidermidis, S. saprophyticus
Gram-positive lab algorithm
FA 129
Bugs with exotoxins
Corynebacterium diphtheriae (diptheria toxin), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (exotoxin A), Shigella (shiga toxin), EHEC (Shiga-like toxin), ETEC (Heat labile and heat-stablile toxin), Bacillus anthracis (edema factor), Vibrio cholerae (Cholera toxin), Bordetella pertussis (Pertussis toxin), Clostridium tetani (tetanospasmin), Clostridium botulinum (Botulinum toxin), Clostridium perfringens (Alpha toxin), Streptococcus pyogenes (Streptolysin O), Staph aureus (TSST-1), Strep pyogenes (Exotoxin A)
Endotoxin
An LPS found in outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria (both cocci and rods)- Edema, Nitric oxide, DIC/Death, Outer membrane, TNF-a, O-antigen, extremely heat stable, IL-1, Neutrophil chemotaxis
Staphylococcus aureus
Gram-positive cocci in clusters. Protein A (virulence factor) binds Fc-IgG, inhibiting complement activation and phagocytosis. Commonly colonizes the nose. Causes: Inflammatory disease- skin infections, organ abscesses, pneumonia (often after influenza virus infection), endocarditis, and osteomyelitis; Toxin-mediated disease - toxic shock syndrome (TSST-1), scalded skin syndrome (exfoliative toxin), rapid-onset food poisoning (enterotoxins); MRSA (methicillin-resistant S. aureus) infection - important cause of serious nosocomial and community-acquired infections, resistant to methicillin and nafcillin because of altered penicillin-binding protein
Staphylococcus epidermidis
Infects prosthetic devices and intravenous catheters by producing adherent biofilms. Component of normal skin flora; contaminates blood cultures. Novobiocin sensitive
Staphylococcus saprophyticus
Second most common cause of uncomplicated UTI in young women (first is E. coli). Novobiocin resistant
Streptococcus pneumoniae
Most common cause of (MOPS): Meningitis, Otitis media (children), Pneumonia, Sinusitis. Lancet-shaped, gram-positive diplococci. Encapsulated. IgA protease. Pneumococcus is associated with “rusty” sputum, sepsis in sickle cell anemia and splenectomy. No virulence without capsule.
Viridans group streptococci
Viridans strep are a-hemolytic. They are normal flora of the oropharynx and cause dental caries (strep mutans) and subacute bacterial endocarditis at damaged valves (S. sanguinis). Resistant to optochin, differentiating them from S. pneumoniae.
Streptococcus pyogenes (group A streptococci)
Causes: Pyogenic - pharyngitis, cellulitis, impetigo; Toxigenic - scarelt fever, toxic shock-like syndrome, necrotizing fascitis; Immunologic - rheumatic fever, acute glomerulonephritis. Bacitracin sensitive. Antibodies to M protein enhance host defenses against S. pyogenes but can give rise to rheumatic fever. ASO titer detects recent S. pyogenes infection. JONES criteria for rheumatic fever: Joints (polyarthritis), O (carditis), Nodules (subcutaneous), Erythema marginatum, Sydenham chorea. Pharyngitis can result in rheumatic fever and glomerulonephritis. Impetigo more commonly precedes glomerulonephritis than pharyngits. Scarlet fever: scarlet rash with sandpaper-like texture, strawberry tongue, circumoral pallor.