Where all your ID needs are met! Sort of.
PETs. We all love them. I have two of those, if the pictures in my “about me” page are any indication as well as the main pic of this post. This post will not cover our beloved (and sometimes only) friends. No, we will be talking about positron emission tomography, an imaging modality we usually
At any rate, at approximately one-quarter to twelve that night, I remember distinctly getting up from my chair and from the table, where my books lay, and taking off my suit coat. No sooner had I removed the left arm of my coat, than there was on the ventral aspect of my left wrist a
What do we want? More nec fasc! When do we want it? Now! Perhaps not a lot of people really want necrotizing fasciitis (see here), though to be fair, this post is not entirely about necrotizing fasciitis. In fact, this deals more with the “super saiyan” antigens, those toxins that group A strep and some
The group streptococcus anginosis or milleri consist of 3 types of streptococci. These include Streptococcus intermedius, Streptococcus constellatus, and streptococcus anginosus and they are usual colonizers of the oropharygneal, urogenital, and gastrointestinal tract and tend to cause pyogenic infections (i.e. abscesses, 1). While I mentioned in a previous post that I tend to think of
I am of the opinion (as is my idol, Mark Crislip) that microbiologists get together every few years, get drunk, and re-organize and re-classify microorganisms (its not like that, but Id like to believe this is the case). Streptococcus is one of those families of organisms that is difficult to organize in someone’s head, especially
Pneumococcus, or Streptococcal pneumoniae, is an encapsulated gram positive organism. SO that is not a surprise to most people reading this. Here is a diagram of the capsule: Strep pneumo joins other encapsulated organisms such as Haemophilus influenza and Nisseria meningiditis in causing havoc in certain immunodeficiency states. These include anything that affect the opsonization
The rate of invasive group B streptococcal infection has been rising for the past few years. Originally described in neonates and pregnant woman, the incidence of invasive disease has risen significantly in the non-pregnant adults. Early studies (1, 2) from Atlanta in the early 90s found that in non-pregnant adults, bacteremia without a focus and
Dr. Germophile 