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Allied Health Microbiology: Summary

Allied Health Microbiology
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table of contents
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Table Of Contents
  5. Preface
  6. Forward
  7. Chapter 1: An Invisible World
    1. 1.1 What Our Ancestors Knew
    2. 1.2 A Systematic Approach
    3. 1.3 Types of Microorganisms
    4. Summary
  8. Chapter 2: The Cell
    1. 2.1 Spontaneous Generation
    2. 2.2 Foundations of Modern Cell Theory
    3. 2.3 Unique Characteristics of Prokaryotic Cells
    4. Summary
  9. Chapter 3: Prokaryotic Diversity
    1. 3.1 Prokaryote Habitats, Relationships, and Microbiomes
    2. Summary
  10. Chapter 4: The Eukaryotes of Microbiology
    1. 4.1 Unicellular Eukaryotic Parasites
    2. 4.2 Parasitic Helminths
    3. 4.3 Fungi
    4. Summary
  11. Chapter 5: Acellular Pathogens
    1. 5.1 Viruses
    2. 5.2 The Viral Life Cycle
    3. 5.3 Prions
    4. Summary
  12. Chapter 6: Microbial Biochemistry
    1. 6.1 Microbial Biochemistry
    2. Summary
  13. Chapter 7: Microbial Growth
    1. 7.1 How Microbes Grow
    2. 7.2 Oxygen Requirements for Microbial Growth
    3. 7.3 The Effects of pH on Microbial Growth
    4. 7.4 Temperature and Microbial Growth
    5. Summary
  14. Chapter 8: Modern Applications of Microbial Genetics
    1. 8.1 Whole Genome Methods and Pharmaceutical Applications of Genetic Engineering
    2. 8.2 Gene Therapy
    3. Summary
  15. Chapter 9: Control of Microbial Growth
    1. 9.1 Controlling Microbial Growth
    2. 9.2 Testing the Effectiveness of Antiseptics and Disinfectants
    3. Summary
  16. Chapter 10: Antimicrobial Drugs
    1. 10.1 Fundamentals of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy
    2. 10.2 Mechanisms of Antibacterial Drugs
    3. 10.3 Mechanisms of Other Antimicrobial Drugs
    4. 10.4 Drug Resistance
    5. 10.5 Testing the Effectiveness of Antimicrobials
    6. 10.6 Current Strategies for Antimicrobial Discovery
    7. Summary
  17. Chapter 11: Microbial Mechanisms of Pathogenicity
    1. 11.1 Characteristics of Infectious Disease
    2. 11.2 How Pathogens Cause Disease
    3. 11.3 Virulence Factors of Bacterial and Viral Pathogens
    4. Summary
  18. Chapter 12: Disease and Epidemiology
    1. 12.1 The Language of Epidemiologists
    2. 12.2 Tracking Infectious Diseases
    3. 12.3 Modes of Disease Transmission
    4. 12.4 Global Public Health
    5. Summary
  19. Chapter 13: Innate Nonspecific Host Defenses
    1. 13.1 Physical Defenses
    2. 13.2 Chemical Defenses
    3. 13.3 Cellular Defenses
    4. 13.4 Pathogen Recognition and Phagocytosis
    5. 13.5 Inflammation and Fever
    6. Summary
  20. Chapter 14: Adaptive Specific Host Defenses
    1. 14.1 Overview of Specific Adaptive Immunity
    2. 14.2 Major Histocompatibility Complexes and Antigen-Presenting Cells
    3. 14.3 T Lymphocytes and Cellular Immunity
    4. 14.4 B Lymphocytes and Humoral Immunity
    5. 14.5 Vaccines
    6. Summary
  21. Chapter 15: Diseases of the Immune System
    1. 15.1 Hypersensitivities
    2. 15.2 Autoimmune Disorders
    3. 15.3 Organ Transplantation and Rejection
    4. Summary
  22. Chapter 16: Skin and Eye Infections
    1. 16.1 Anatomy and Normal Microbiota of the Skin and Eyes
    2. 16.2 Bacterial Infections of the Skin and Eyes
    3. 16.3 Viral Infections of the Skin and Eyes
    4. 16.4 Mycoses of the Skin
    5. 16.5 Helminthic Infections of the Skin and Eyes
    6. Summary
  23. Chapter 17: Respiratory System Infections
    1. 17.1 Anatomy and Normal Microbiota of the Respiratory Tract
    2. 17.2 Bacterial Infections of the Respiratory Tract
    3. 17.3 Viral Infections of the Respiratory Tract
    4. Summary
  24. Chapter 18: Urogenital System Infections
    1. 18.1 Anatomy and Normal Microbiota of the Urogenital Tract
    2. 18.2 Bacterial Infections of the Urinary System
    3. 18.3 Bacterial Infections of the Reproductive System
    4. 18.4 Viral Infections of the Reproductive System
    5. 18.5 Fungal Infections of the Reproductive System
    6. 18.6 Protozoan Infections of the Urogenital System
    7. Summary
  25. Chapter 19: Digestive System Infections
    1. 19.1 Anatomy and Normal Microbiota of the Digestive System
    2. 19.2 Microbial Diseases of the Mouth and Oral Cavity
    3. 19.3 Bacterial Infections of the Gastrointestinal Tract
    4. 19.4 Viral Infections of the Gastrointestinal Tract
    5. 19.5 Protozoan Infections of the Gastrointestinal Tract
    6. 19.6 Helminthic Infections of the Gastrointestinal Tract
    7. Summary
  26. Chapter 20: Circulatory and Lymphatic System Infections
    1. 20.1 Anatomy of the Circulatory and Lymphatic Systems
    2. 20.2 Bacterial Infections of the Circulatory and Lymphatic Systems
    3. 20.3 Viral Infections of the Circulatory and Lymphatic Systems
    4. 20.4 Parasitic Infections of the Circulatory and Lymphatic Systems
    5. Summary
  27. Chapter 21: Nervous System Infections
    1. 21.1 Anatomy of the Nervous System
    2. 21.2 Bacterial Diseases of the Nervous System
    3. 21.3 Acellular Diseases of the Nervous System
    4. Summary
  28. Creative Commons License
  29. Recommended Citations
  30. Versioning

Summary

9.1 Controlling Microbial Growth

  • Inanimate items that may harbor microbes and aid in their transmission are called fomites. The level of cleanliness required for a fomite depends both on the item’s use and the infectious agent with which the item may be contaminated.
  • The CDC and the NIH have established four biological safety levels (BSLs) for laboratories performing research on infectious agents. Each level is designed to protect laboratory personnel and the community. These BSLs are determined by the agent’s infectivity, ease of transmission, and potential disease severity, as well as the type of work being performed with the agent.
  • Disinfection removes potential pathogens from a fomite, whereas antisepsis uses antimicrobial chemicals safe enough for tissues; in both cases, microbial load is reduced, but microbes may remain unless the chemical used is strong enough to be a sterilant.
  • The amount of cleanliness (sterilization versus high-level disinfection versus general cleanliness) required for items used clinically depends on whether the item will come into contact with sterile tissues (critical item), mucous membranes (semicritical item), or intact skin (noncritical item).
  • Medical procedures with a risk for contamination should be carried out in a sterile field maintained by proper aseptic technique to prevent sepsis.
  • Sterilization is necessary for some medical applications as well as in the food industry, where endospores of Clostridium botulinum are killed through commercial sterilization protocols.
  • Physical or chemical methods to control microbial growth that result in death of the microbe are indicated by the suffixes -cide or -cidal (e.g., as with bactericides, viricides, and fungicides), whereas those that inhibit microbial growth are indicated by the suffixes -stat or-static (e.g., bacteriostatic, fungistatic).
  • Microbial death curves display the logarithmic decline of living microbes exposed to a method of microbial control. The time it takes for a protocol to yield a 1-log (90%) reduction in the microbial population is the decimal reduction time, or D-value.
  • When choosing a microbial control protocol, factors to consider include the length of exposure time, the type of microbe targeted, its susceptibility to the protocol, the intensity of the treatment, the presence of organics that may interfere with the protocol, and the environmental conditions that may alter the effectiveness of the protocol.

9.2 Testing the Effectiveness of Antiseptics and Disinfectants

  • Chemical disinfectants are grouped by the types of microbes and infectious agents they are effective against. High-level germicides kill vegetative cells, fungi, viruses, and endospores, and can ultimately lead to sterilization. Intermediate-level germicides cannot kill all viruses and are less effective against endospores. Low-level germicides kill vegetative cells and some enveloped viruses, but are ineffective against endospores.
  • The effectiveness of a disinfectant is influenced by several factors, including length of exposure, concentration of disinfectant, temperature, and pH.
  • Historically, the effectiveness of a chemical disinfectant was compared with that of phenol at killing Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi, and a phenol coefficient was calculated.
  • The disk-diffusion method is used to test the effectiveness of a chemical disinfectant against a particular microbe.
  • The use-dilution test determines the effectiveness of a disinfectant on a surface. In-use tests can determine whether disinfectant solutions are being used correctly in clinical settings.

Annotate

Next Chapter
Chapter 10: Antimicrobial Drugs
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Biology
Copyright © 2019 by Open Stax and Linda Bruslind Allied Health Microbiology by Open Stax and Linda Bruslind is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
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