Where all your ID needs are met! Sort of.
Literature review on any “old timey” organism can be kind of a pain since I am convinced microbiologists get drunk every so often to reclassify clinically relevant organisms. This is the case for Bartonella. Originally described as bartonia, which is an erythrocyte-adherent organism similar to organisms of the genus of Rochalimacae, including Rickettsia quintana, was
The complete blood count is one of the more commonly ordered test, along with the basic metabolic profile. The CBC gives you a ton of useful information when it comes to the etiology of anemia (not just from the hemoglobin/hematocrit, but also the mean corpuscular volume, red cell distribution width, etc), coagulation, and inflammation. The
The above is the Katayama Ki or “Katayama memoir” written by Dr Fujii in 1847 which describes the first recorded case of schistosomiasis japonica in the world. The initial description was based on patients from Katayama district, in the Hiroshima prefecture (yes, that Hiroshima). Subsequently, a committee was formed to evaluate the disease and
Trying to figure out if a febrile patient showing up to the ED is having a bacterial infection is a conundrum. The main concern is bacteremia, since it confers higher mortality depending on the type of bacteremia a patient has. Inflammatory markers such as CRP and the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio are relatively useful surrogates that may
I reckon it’s time to write about new antibiotics. I do not like beta-lactamases. Mostly due to their ability to confuse clinicians, however also because it makes it difficult to pick an antibiotic for certain infections. I have written extensively about these, so look at this post. In general, carabepenemases and cephalosporinases within class A
Originally described as a pathogen in 1923, Corynebacterium equi was isolated from the lungs of ten foals (aka a young horse) who had pneumonia (1). Its name was later changed to rhodococcus (aka red coccus), and can be mistaken for mycobacterium spp due to its sometimes acid-fast appearance (2). It is known to infect horses,
“A term that has been used in a number of systems of classification is variola vera. It is this idea of true or typical smallpox so often forming the subject of illustrations in text-books of medicine that has fixed in the minds of practitioners a single picture of what smallpox should look like. The literature
This is quite a corny and overtold joke. I have discussed some new drugs for multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), which is defined as resistance to both rifampin and isoniazid, however I felt like going back to the basics of TB therapy. Indeed, we all learn in STEP 1 and med school about “RIPE-ing it up”
Central lines are cool, for the most part. Except for when they’re infected. The pathophysiology behind these is explained in this diagram (1): Microorganisms gain access to the extraluminal or intraluminal surface of the device. Both skin and hub may be the important entry point of organisms, with the development of biofilm contributing to their
The cephalosporins are a class of beta-lactam antibiotics that is generally classified based on “generations.” These denote the spectrum of bacteria they target, with each successive generation having more gram negative coverage. I am convinced most people only know about ceftriaxone, the prototype third-generation cephalosporin aka an “extended-spectrum beta lactam” along with cefepime, which is
Dr. Germophile 