How to Study Microbiology

How to Study Microbiology

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How to Study Microbiology ---

[size=21]"Microbiology Basics"

As with any other subject, when you start studying Microbiology you need
to learn the basics and then little by little you can add more details,
facts, examples, etc. And that is what Ill be taking about in this
series of posts. "Microbiology Basics"

Lets start:

Bacterial Classification:

Because there are many bugs that you will be studying in this subject
you will probably find it easier to study and remember the bugs if you
put them in clusters.

As long as medically important bacteria are concerned, put in your mind
that we have 6 Gram +ve bugs and all the others are Gram -ve.

Of all the Gram +ve bugs only two are cocci and the other 4 are rods.
The two cocci are Streptococcus and Staphylococci. Now two of the 4 rods
are capable of forming spors, namely, Bacillus and Clostridium. Last
two Gram +ve cannot form spores, namely, Corynbacterium and Listeria
(this is the only Gram +ve bug has endotoxin).

On the other hand we have one Gram -ve cocci (actually a diplococci),
namely, Neisseria, one spiral: Spirochetes and the rest are Gram -ve
rods or pleomorphic.

Some odd bugs that you will need to remember:

Mycobacterium--->acid fast stain
Spirochete--->dark field microscopy
Mycoplasma--->no cell wall

Bacterial Virulence:

Virulence depends on the presence of certain cell structures and on bacteria exotoxin and endotoxin, etc.

Simple examples you should have in mind:
Vibrio Cholera--->one flagella
Eschericia coli--->many flagella
Shigella--->no flagella

Flagella are used for movement (chemotaxis) while Pili are used for
adhesion and such which are considered virulence factors too. E. coli
for instance cannot cause diarrhea without its pili.

Bacterial Toxins:

Exotoxin is produced by both Gram +ve and Gram -ve and they couse stuff like botulism, tetanus, and cholera.
Enterotoxins act on the GIT causing infectious diarrhea (V. cholera, E.
coli, ...) or food poisoning (diarrhea and vomiting) as caused by S.
aureus.
Pyrogenic exotoxin causes rash, fever, toxic shock syndrome (S. aureus, S. pyogenes)

Treatment:

the most important principle for treatment is to figure out the site of
the infection and the causative bug so you can then eradicate it.

resource : A medical student's blog on medical
education, USMLE, online medical resources, medical videos, and topics
of interest.

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» A Brief Introduction of Medical Microbiology