Monthly Archives: June 2013

“Data Interpretation: Case Number 3”

Data Interpretation,

A 20 year old presents with a 72 hour history of headache, photophobia and fever. On examination he is alert and orientated and has mild neck stiffness. There are no focal neurological signs. He has no significant past medical history. He has no risk factors for HIV nor does he have any history of travel to tropical areas.

A CT scan of his head is normal.

A lumbar puncture is performed and a CSF sample is taken.

The initial CSF results are as follows:

  • Clear and colourless macroscopically
  • White cell count: 85 x 10^6/l, differential 99% lymphocytes
  • Red cell count: 14 x 10^6/l
  • Protein 0.7 g/l
  • Glucose 4.2 mmol/l  (serum glucose 6.5 mmol/l)
  • Gram Stain: No organisms seen

The following morning he is feeling a bit better, with supportive and symptomatic treatment alone.

1) What is the likely cause of this young man’s illness?

2) What further testing should be undertaken on the CSF sample?

 

Click here for the answers and brief explanations.

 

“We all have our struggles….”

Confessions of a Microbiologist

As I enter the last week of my current job I have been thinking about the people that I have been working with over the last seven years, the problems we have shared and the laughs we have had. It is difficult to conceive that I may not see some of these people ever again.

One group of people that I will remember for a long time is the colleagues who have suffered personal tragedy during this period. It amazes me how people recovering from such events can perform so well and professionally at their jobs.

Sometimes we get wrapped up so much in our own little world it is easy to forget that everyone has their struggles at one point or another. The really good laboratory team looks out for one another, looks after one another at difficult times, and believe and trust in one another. I have seen that in abundance in my current job.

The other group of colleagues I will remember long into the future are the ones who showed outstanding passion in microbiology. The people for whom coming to work in the morning is a pleasure, the ones who take a genuine interest in what they are doing and why they are doing it, and question everything in a positive way. These people inspire me and the others around them.

I care what happens to all my colleagues. I want them to be happy in their jobs, I want them to fulfill their potential to the utmost and I want them to be empowered in their positions and their responsibilities.

I hope that when I leave my job at the end of next week, I won’t stop caring…. I will continue to observe closely from afar!

Michael

“Baruch Blumberg: Over achiever!”

History of Microbiology, ,

It is fitting that the person credited with discovering Hepatitis B, developing a diagnostic test for Hepatitis B and developing the Hepatitis B vaccine, should have the initials BB.

93px-Baruch_Samuel_Blumberg_by_Tom_Trower_(NASA)

In 1964, he discovered a surface antigen for hepatitis B in the blood of an indiginous Australian. This is why it was initially called the “Australian Antigen”. In the years that followed his team developed both a diagnostic test and a vaccine for Hepatitis B.

He was also involved with identifying prions as the infectious agent of kuru.

He received the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1976. (shared with D. Carleton)

He died in 2011, aged 85, collapsing shortly after giving a presentation to NASA scientists.

It is thought that through his work on Hepatitis B, he has prevented more deaths from cancer than any other human….

Over-achiever indeed. It is not impossible that in the course of history, his name will become as prominent in the world of microbiology as those of Pasteur and Koch….

For more on Baruch Blumberg, click here for a short biography.

Michael