In this episode I continue going over beta hemolytic strep: this time Streptococcus anginosus group. What are the species that compose this group? What is the Lancefield group? What about biochemicals and morphology? Tune in to find out. Questions? Feedback? Send those to [email protected] Want to support the podcast? Here's how: Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/letstalkmicro Buy me a Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/letstalkmicro...
May 27, 2022•21 min•Season 1Ep. 49
This is a special edition episode. In lieu of all the recent information about monkeypox, Dr. Rodney Rohde comes to the podcast to provide us with some information about this virus. Dr. Rohde is an experienced microbiologist and educator. He is program chair and professor in the Clinical Laboratory Science program at Texas State University. Tune in to learn about monkeypox, including signs, symptoms, treatment options, and outbreak information. Dr Rhode's most recent publication: https://theconv...
May 21, 2022•33 min•Season 1Ep. 48
This week I continue going over beta hemolytic strep: this time Streptococcus dysgalactiae . What Lancefield group is it? What about media, biochemicals and pathogenicity? Tune in to find out the answers.
May 20, 2022•20 min•Season 1Ep. 47
This episode features an interview with Dr. Lacy Moss, a professor at the University of Utah Medical Laboratory Sciences program. She joins the podcast to discuss an initiative launched by the MLS program and the University: the Summer Immersion Program. In this program high school students will learn about laboratory medicine. How does it work? How does it help the Medical Laboratory Sciences profession? Tune in to find out. Link to article: https://medicine.utah.edu/pathology/medical-laborator...
May 12, 2022•31 min•Season 1Ep. 46
This episode features an interview with Dr. Andrea Prinzi, an infectious disease medical science liaison and a contributor of many articles published in the American Society for Microbiology website. She comes to Let's Talk Micro to talk about antimicrobial susceptibility testing and breakpoints. Many laboratories are or have been using outdated breakpoints? What is the significance of this? How are breakpoints updated? Tune in to this episode to find out and check out Dr. Prinzi's article on th...
May 06, 2022•43 min•Season 1Ep. 45
What is BacterioSight? As automation becomes a larger part of Laboratory Medicine, how could it help with urine cultures? This episode features an interview with Dr. Daniel Rhoads from the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. Dr. Rhoades talks about BacterioSight, a deep learning model that was used to interpret images from urine cultures. Other areas of the laboratory already have systems where some results autofile. What if this could be applied to cultures in Microbiology? Tune in to this episode to fin...
Apr 28, 2022•29 min•Season 1Ep. 44
This episode features a collaboration between two Microbiology podcasts: The Microbe Moment and Let's Talk Micro. On this episode I am the one being interviewed. Find out what is like being a Medical Laboratory Scientist (MLS) in Microbiology and what teaching is like. What does an MLS do? What are the responsibilities of a supervisor? What about teaching? Find out by listening to this episode.
Apr 19, 2022•58 min•Season 1Ep. 43
This week Let's Talk Micro is talking virology, specifically about the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). This episode features an interview with Dr. Hsu, a stem cell specialist from the Weill Medical College at Cornell University in New York. She discusses an article about a patient that has been possibly cured from HIV after a stem cell transplant with cord blood cells. What is the CCR5 gene? What is its relationship to HIV? Tune in to find out about this interesting article. Link to article:...
Apr 14, 2022•24 min•Season 1Ep. 42
This episode features an interview with Dr. Charlene Kahler from the Marshall Centre for Infectious Diseases Research and Training at the University of Western Australia. She discusses and article titled " Neisseria species and their complicated relationships with human health". Tune in to this episode to find out more information about different species of Neisseria and their significance in the human body. Link to article: https://www.publish.csiro.au/ma/fulltext/ma21024...
Apr 07, 2022•29 min•Season 1Ep. 41
This episodes features an interview with Dr. Ayesha Khan, one of the authors of a study performed on automated susceptibility testing on S. maltophilia . Three systems were evaluated. How did they perform? Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is a very significant organism that has a high level of intrinsic antibiotic resistance. What are the challenges with breakpoints? Tune in to find out.
Mar 31, 2022•31 min•Season 1Ep. 40
This episode features an interview with Dr. Carey-Ann Burnham, Dr. Daniel Webber and Meghan Wallace from Washington University in St. Louis. They are the authors of a study where disk diffusion testing was performed on isolates that had an incubation time of 6 hours. One of the challenges in Microbiology is time. In Microbiology organisms are incubated for 18 to 24 hours, Tune in to this episode to find out the results of this study. Link to article is attached.
Mar 24, 2022•34 min•Season 1Ep. 39
In January there was an episode about Staphylococcus argenteus , a member of the S. aureus complex . This episode features an interview about a new member of the Staphylococcus aureus complex: Staphylococcus singaporensis . Dr . Jeanette Teo joins the podcast to discuss her study about this organism. How similar is S. singaporensis to S. aureus? Any virulence factors? Tune in to find out.
Mar 17, 2022•23 min•Season 1Ep. 38
What is Todd Hewitt broth? Is it the same as LIM broth? What's in it? In this episode I go over Todd Hewitt Broth, and two PCR tests used for the detection of S. agalactiae (GBS).
Mar 11, 2022•21 min•Season 1Ep. 37
In this episode I continue going over species of Streptococcus . This week's episode is about Streptococcus agalactiae . What is the Lancefield group of this Strep species? Is it pathogenic?. Tune in to this episode to find the answer to these questions and more.
Mar 04, 2022•20 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Wohlfahrtiimonas what? Have you heard about this organism? It is a gram negative rod and it is very unusual. In this episode Dr. Paul Luethy from the University of Maryland School of Medicine comes to the podcast to discuss a case regarding this organism. How is it identified? Does it grow on standard media? What about susceptibilities? Tune in to this episode to find out. The case was published in the Emergent Infectious Diseases journal from the CDC . Link: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/27...
Feb 25, 2022•24 min•Season 1Ep. 35
In this episode I go over three tests used for the detection of S. pyogenes : two antigen based and one PCR. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each one? Do negative results need to be confirmed by a culture? Tune in to find out.
Feb 18, 2022•23 min•Season 1Ep. 34
After going over Staph and other gram positive cocci (gpc) in clusters, now is the turn for gram positive cocci in chains. This week's episode is about S. pyogenes or Group A Strep (GAS). What is the clinical significance of GAS? How do we identify it in the lab?. Tune in to this episode to find the answers to these questions and more.
Feb 11, 2022•23 min•Season 1Ep. 33
This episode goes beyond Microbiology. It is about Medical Laboratory Sciences. In the episode I talk to Xander Fernandes and Maria Roussakis, two Medical Laboratory Technologists from Ontario, Canada. They talk about their website, medlabscholar.com, which contains great resources for Medical Laboratory Science students and professionals. What can we do to bring more awareness to this profession? Tune in to find out.
Feb 04, 2022•30 min•Season 1Ep. 32
In this week's episode I continue going over Coagulase negative Staph. I also go over other gram positive cocci in clusters such as Micrococcus and Aerococcus . Are these pathogenic? How do we identify them in the lab? Tune in to find out.
Jan 28, 2022•24 min•Season 1Ep. 31
In this episode I go over Coagulase Negative Staphylococcus or CNS. Are they pathogenic or normal flora? Do we identify them or is a presumptive identification enough? Tune in to this episode to find out.
Jan 21, 2022•22 min•Season 1Ep. 30
This episode features an interview with Dr. Robin Patel and Dr. Audrey Schuetz to discuss an article titled "Phenotypic and Genomic Profiling of Staphylococcus argenteus in Canada and the United States and Recommendations for Clinical Result Reporting". They are Co-Directors of the Bacteriology Laboratory at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. Challenges in identifying this organism are discussed. Staphylococcus argenteus is part of the Staphylococcus aureus complex, and is very similar to S. aureus ,...
Jan 14, 2022•26 min•Season 1Ep. 29
This the last episode of 2021. What is chromogenic agar? In this episode I go over chromogenic agar used to detect MRSA. I also talk about Mannitol salt agar and how it aids in the isolation of Staphylococcus aureus.
Dec 17, 2021•22 min•Season 1Ep. 28
On this episode I go over how to identify Staphylococcus aureus from a standard set of agar plates. I also go over a test used to determine if this organism is an MRSA or not.
Dec 10, 2021•27 min•Season 1Ep. 27
In this episode I talk about Staphylococcus aureus. This is one of the most common organisms seen in Clinical Microbiology and a very serious one. Tune in to find about more about this organism, including its pathogenicity and significance in health care settings. Questions? Feedback? Send those to [email protected] Want to support the podcast? Here's how: Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/letstalkmicro Buy me a Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/letstalkmicro...
Dec 03, 2021•24 min•Season 1Ep. 26
This episode is part two of a two-part episode. What are the limitations of the Vitek MS? In this episode I go over the limitations of the Vitek MS regarding identification of organisms. I also go over the pros and cons of having this system in the laboratory.
Nov 26, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 25
What is MALDI-TOF? How is it used in Clinical Microbiology?. This is the first part of a two part episode where I discuss MALDI-TOF, and its applications in Clinical Microbiology.
Nov 19, 2021•23 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Instagram follower suggestion: After mentioning on a post that Pasteurella was my favorite, a follower suggested for me to make an episode about it. In this episode I talk about Pasteurella, and why do I like it.
Oct 29, 2021•29 min•Season 1Ep. 23
In this episode I continue going over anaerobic bacteria. Is blood agar sufficient to recover anaerobes? Listen to this episode to learn about different media used for the recovery of anaerobic bacteria.
Oct 22, 2021•24 min•Season 1Ep. 22
In this episode I continue going over anaerobes. Are all sources acceptable for anaerobic cultures? How do you achieve the anaerobic environment these organisms need to grow? Find out in this episode.
Oct 15, 2021•27 min•Season 1Ep. 21
What is anaerobic bacteria? What is a facultative anaerobe? In this episode I introduce anaerobic bacteria and its relationship to oxygen and growth. Some species are mentioned.
Oct 01, 2021•26 min•Season 1Ep. 20
