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@dresmerelda

ID/Micro Academic Doctor & Smiley-faced lover of purple

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Tag: genomics

Conferences

May 14, 2018May 14, 2018Leave a comment

Just a short one- I’m at two conferences this week!

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Invasive Group A Streptococci are a major public health concern- and at the moment, there’s a lot of it in the UK! “Invasive” means they got in somewhere that should be ‘sterile’ (this is from a blood sample), and Grp A refers to a type of protein they express on their cell wall. It’s a system devised by Rebecca Lancefield who was an amazing lady and well worth reading about. The “groups” are tested with agglutination kits- smudge a bit of the bug with the kit fluid and see which one looks “bobbly” to the naked eye. Groups can help us work out how “nasty” or clinically important the bug might be, and also where it came from sometimes ☺️ • Do you know any (non invasive) infections caused by Grp As? 👇 • #womeninscience #haemolysis #agar #inthelab #microbelove #workwednesdays #humpday #ladyboss #microbiologia #microbiology #scientist #medical #physician #publichealth #infectioncontrol #sepsis #blood #bloodculture #lancefield #art #photography

We doctors perform lumbar punctures using anatomical markings, aiming for a safe space in the spine to tap the CSF. The key, as with most things in medicine, is clear communication with the patient. It’s daunting to have someone poking in your back doing a medical procedure! I always point out just how flimsy this needle is, talk to the patient throughout and teach the patients how to assume the correct position for success! Position is everything! 🌟 • Most patients tell me the thought was worse than the procedure! Do you have any tips for a successful lumbar puncture? Have you had one? 👇 • #lumbarpuncture #microbiology #motivationmonday #mondaymood #medicalmonday #microbiology #infectiousdisease #neurology #neuroscience #medic #doctorsofinstagram #doctorslife #oncall #physician #communicate #patientcare #girlboss #purplehair #purplelove #ontheward #brain #anatomy #science

In the microbiology lab, the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is stained to look for organisms (Gram stain) and placed in a counting chamber to look for (white) blood cells. Without even growing anything, the number and type of white blood cells can help us diagnose and treat brain infections! It’s all about pattern spotting and the patient history! 👩🏻‍⚕️ • CSF is also sent to the biochemistry lab. Does anyone know what that lab looks for and what it might tell us in treating infections? I’ll try to respond to any guesses 🤔 👇 • #microbiology #microbiologia #medic #cases #clinician #infectiousdisease #virology #bacteriology #scicomm #inthelab #microbemonday #mondaymotivation #followyourdreams #lovemyjob #neuroscience #pa #nursing #bms #alwayslearning #girlboss #womeninmedicine

Surrounding your brain and spinal cord is “cerebrospinal fluid” (CSF)- it’s like a bath for your brain to sit in! Your brain and spinal cord are also wrapped in 3 layers like a Christmas present- a close fitting cellophane wrap (pia mater), a fibrous tissue paper layer (arachnoid mater) and a tough ‘brown paper’ wrapping (dura mater). When a person gets meningitis, they get inflammation of these layers, through which the CSF flows. 🧠 • We can take a sample of this fluid from a patient’s back by putting a needle through these layers to where the CSF flows. And this is what it looks like: that pale yellow, barely visible fluid in those glass vials? That’s what your CSF looks like! 👩🏻‍⚕️ • In my next post, I’ll show you the lab side of what we do with that CSF. Anyone know the name of the procedure to get the CSF? 👇 • #science #infection #meningitis #diagnosis #clinical #physician #medicine #medic #medstudent #pa #nurses #bms #stethoscope #neuroscience #neurology #scicomm #learnstuff #brain #microbelife #doctorslife

Did you know there are only a few things that “win” a patient a bed on the Intensive Care Unit, and sepsis can cause many of them? 😔 • So, tell me- why do you think a patient might need specialist ICU input? What things can be done on ICU that can’t be done elsewhere in a hospital? (Answers in my stories later this week)👇 • #medicine #sepsis #infection #hospital #hospitalbed #medic #medstudent #doctorsofinstagram #doctorslife #intensivecare #microlove #patientcare #nhs #pa #nursing #health #healthcareprofessional #vintagehair #lovemyjob #womeninmedicine #physician #emergencymedicine

#Repost @thescicommunity @the_sushi_scientist ・・・ Part 5 - Why don’t antibiotics work on viruses? By @dresmerelda . • Bacteria are neat little “boxes”- on the outside there is a cell wall and on the inside are all the cogs that keep it working: its genetic material and proteins. Antibiotics are designed to work on specific parts of the bacteria- either by attacking the cell wall (for example, penicillins and many other similar types of antibiotic), or the different proteins/protein machinery within the bacterial cell. The thing is, viruses have different structures- in particular, they don’t have the cell walls that most of our effective antibiotics work on. So trying to treat your cold with antibiotics does nothing to the virus causing it. As with any drug, the effort to make antibiotics is a battle between targeting the right thing (ie, bacteria) without damaging any potentially similar proteins that your body makes (that’s why the cell wall is such a popular target- it’s only in bacteria, not humans nor viruses). 🤔 • But antibiotics are safe, right? Mostly yes, and if needed they can be life saving. However, it’s important to remember two things: 1, all drugs have side effects (if you don’t need the drug, why take even the smallest risk of potential damage?); and 2, unnecessary use of antibiotics increases the risk of any partially killed bacteria fighting back and becoming resistant to antibiotics, and 3, many of the bacteria in your body are your “friends on the inside.” Studies on the human microbiome (the community of bacteria and other organisms that live and work happily with your body) have shown that negatively changing the precious balance of good bacteria in and on your body can put people at risk of not just infection, but other diseases like diabetes, asthma, even auto-immune diseases! 🤗 • So, next time you get a cold, spare a thought for all your good bacteria and don’t be surprised if your doctor wants to save them- unless your doctor thinks you have signs of an additional bacterial infection, you don’t need, and shouldn’t want, antibiotics 💕 • #microbiology #researchlife #microbiome #medicine #virology #infection #sepsis #instascience

Geeking out 😁 • For the first 6 months of their lives, babies also get immunity from their mums against malaria. Then they lose it and need to develop their own. Things get risky again for folks in countries with high exposures during pregnancy. At this point, the malarial parasite can create proteins to receptors in the placenta that the woman’s immune system has never encountered before. 🔬 • Anyone know any genetic conditions that can possibly protect people from developing severe malaria? 👇 • #infection #malaria #parasitology #infectiousdiseases #microlove #vlog #learning #womeninmedicine #travellerslife #globalhealth #womeninscience #research #geeklife #globetrotting #doctorsofinstagram #medicine #travelhealth #instascience #medic #mondaymotivation

Did you get it right? What should you pretty much always consider in the returning tropical traveller with a fever? 🧐 • Malaria! It helps to know which countries and places are malaria-risk areas but you almost guarantee a risk in African countries as they have it year round at sea level. So, to test the patient, you need a blood sample. The lab will then run an antigen test to see if the cells in your body are shouting out that they’ve been infected (this first pic is actually a hiv testing kit but the principle is the same- a bit like a pregnancy test, it’s either positive, negative or failed). The lab will then create two sets of slides: thick and thin films. 💉 • A thick film is like a smear of blood- some of the cells are on top of each other, it often looks messy down the scope, but to the experienced microscopist it’s a quick way of scanning a large volume of blood cells so as to look for parasites. A thin film is one cell layer thick- see pic 2- SO MUCH easier to read. 🔬 • See those ring shapes in the red blood cells- anyone know which type of malaria this is? 👇 • #malaria #travelmedicine #infectiousdiseases #bloodfilm #blood #scientist #biomedicalscience #inthelab #diagnostics #medicine #medic #africa #globetrotting #treatment #parasitology #microscope #alwayslearning #worldly #globalhealth #health

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