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

Looks like anchovy paste? “...‘Ah maybe’…it’s a parasite!”

30/11/2017

 
The patient was a 20 year old medical student who presented to his GP with right sided abdominal pain. During a lecture and practical session on liver disease his friend had performed a textbook abdominal examination on him and reported his liver was a bit enlarged. The patient now was worried he might have liver cancer! The GP rolled his eyes, hadn’t anyone explained to these students that they could only have 3 fatal diseases a year without becoming paranoid? Take it from me, medical students tend to associate every symptom they have with the most severe disease they can imagine or the one they are currently learning about… it’s a normal and common ailment which does subside with experience and without treatment :-)

Read More

Keep calm and kerion

22/11/2017

 
The patient’s mother was at her wits end. Her little boy’s head was covered in scaly skin. At first she thought his scaly hair was dandruff so she had washed his hair in medicated shampoo but this was met with screams and tears. She thought he was being a bit extreme “it’s only dandruff” but guessed kids can be funny about having soap in their eyes. He just kept saying “mummy my head is really sore”. Tonight he had refused to have his hair washed and while trying to get him into bed, she noticed he was going bald! She was so alarmed that she brought him in to the Emergency Department for help.
tinea capitis

Read More

Beware of brown dogs!?

15/11/2017

 
The Microbiologist groaned as his pager went off at midnight, waking him after he had just dozed off. He stumbled over the sleeping cat and went to answer the call, while his wife stirred and uttered something unrepeatable. However, rather than one of the normal “you should know this from medical school” types of call the Microbiologist soon snapped awake as the story unfolded.
 
The patient had returned 5 days ago from visiting family in Israel. They had a fever and muscle pains but had come in to hospital as they had noticed a florid rash all over their body when getting undressed to go to bed. The A&E doctor was concerned this might be meningococcal sepsis but as the patient was an adult they thought they better get advice about what to do.
Rickettsial infection

Read More

Oo “B” do, I want be like you oo oo

8/11/2017

 
​“We want to know whether to stop the Aciclovir”, said the Doctor.
 
The Microbiologist took a deep breath. This was a surprisingly regular but unhelpful opening gambit from those calling for advice, “would you perhaps like to tell me about the patient?” he asked.
 
“Oh yeah, sorry! He’s 53 years old; previously fit and well. He returned from trekking in Nepal nearly two weeks ago. He was well whilst on holiday but became unwell four days ago with a flu-like illness which progressed to nausea and vomiting followed by headache, confusion and difficulty speaking. We thought this was encephalitis but his CSF HSV PCR is negative so we wondered whether it is alright to stop the Aciclovir” asked the doctor.

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.