Just to get everyone up to speed

Hello again! Here is my bi-weekly check-in:

Just to get everyone up to speed, the course’s discussions are on bacterial infections by body site. We began with the blood, the CNS, and this week past week we discussed the urinary tract. One thing I’ve learned is the first important step in tackling these topics, is to know what is the normal flora of the site you are dealing with. For instance, blood and CSF are sterile!  NO BUGS SHOULD BE FOUND THERE!!! However, if they are, there’s a problem. And who knew there were so many bacterial causes of meningitis. I only knew of Neisseria meningitidis; I never considered Haemophilus influenzae!  Another interesting fact is that women are at a higher risk for urinary tract infections than men. I learned that in general, women suffer more urinary tract infections than men because women have a shorter urethra. Talk about getting the short end of the stick! But I have to say, the most interesting part of the course is the lab. That’s where we can put it all to use and it makes all the concepts so much clearer. In closing, the course is off to a good start and I’m excited about what’s up ahead.

Also, for those of you who are interested, I’ve included a link to a webpage that I found helpful. It discussed several bacteria and where they are considered normal flora as well as what pathogens they cause. I think it can be very helpful in the student laboratory so check it out.

Until next time, check out the link below, comment, and post!

Thanks for reading!!!

Todar's Online Textbook of Bacteriology http://textbookofbacteriology.net/normalflora.html

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