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

How much for a bed pan! You have got to be joking?!

25/2/2022

 
Sunday night is “Antiques Roadshow night” in our house, every Sunday in the UK the BBC1 broadcast an hour of people bringing their various family heirlooms or jumble sale bargains to antique experts for a brief chat about what they are and how much they are worth. I enjoy the social history side of the show although I find the occasional “money-grabbing” a bit depressing.
 
Last Sunday, 20th February, was a bit different as I saw a trailer showing something unusual and medical… queue my curiosity! I was glued to the program in anticipation.
 
It was the last item on the show, and it had been brought in by some school children and their Headmaster and it was this:
Heatley's Vessel Penicillin

Read More

Do viruses sprout wings?

18/2/2022

 
I’ve had to reduce the amount of time I spend watching the news as it’s really not good for my mental health. Not only that, but ECIC is getting increasingly irritated with me muttering and grumbling at the various Covid-19 stories, and she’s right, I should “just let it go”.
 
One (of the many) things that irritates me is when someone says a new variant is “more transmissible”. Why does it irritate me? Well, it’s an incorrect term. Transmissible means “being able to be spread from one person to another”, well we know SARS CoV2 is transmissible… but it cannot be “more transmissible”, it is either transmissible or it is not. More transmissible would mean that it was better able to “move” from one person to another and we have no evidence of that at all… it hasn’t suddenly sprouted wings!
Covid 19 transmissibility or fitness advantage
Jessica Ennis-Hill, our definition of fitness

Read More

Yet another vaccine trial… but it’s not what you think!

10/2/2022

 
Wait! This isn’t a blog about another blah, blah, blah, SARS CoV2 vaccine… no way!
 
I’m REALLY bored of Covid-19… as I suspect you are too… so this week I’m going to write an update for a blog I wrote back in 2018. Do you remember 2018? Let me remind you:
  • The 2018 Winter Olympics were held in Pyeongchang, South Korea
  • Dawn Sturgess was murdered, and Charlie Rowley, Sergei Skripal and Yulia Skripal were all poisoned with Novichok by Russian agents in Salisbury, UK
  • White rhinos became functionally extinct in the wild when the last male died in Kenya, Africa
  • Harry and Megan got married in Windsor, UK
  • Baby elephant Anjan was born unexpectedly to Thi Hi Way at Chester Zoo, UK… 
Baby elephant Anjan
Anjan the baby elephant! (Photo: Chester Zoo)

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

    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    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.