Clinical microbiology explained in simple terms, suitable for students and microbiologists alike. We discuss organisms, reactions, infectious diseases, and more. Hosted by Luis Plaza, a Medical Laboratory Scientist and microbiologist, who also shares his experiences in the field.
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The next episode of the AMR series is here! This time Luis and Andrea are joined by Sonali Kalathiya, a pharmacist and Medical Science Liaison. Sonali joins the podcast to talk about two classes of antibiotics: macrolides and lincosamides. Have you performed a D-test in the lab? What is the purpose of the test? If you have performed it and perform susceptibilities for erythromycin and clindamycin, then you are familiar with these classes of drugs. Tune in to learn more. Also, in the episode Sona...
A simulation laboratory? In this episode Luis is joined by Emily Matthys, an Assistant Professor at Northern Michigan University. Emily teaches at a Medical Laboratory Sciences program and she joins the podcast to talk about a simulation laboratory that was implemented for blood bank and microbiology for medical laboratory technician students. As some labs become more centralized, and end result might be diminished exposure to some areas for medical laboratory science students undergoing their c...
Let's Talk Micro kicks off 2025 with a great new episode. This time Luis is Joined by Dr. Sam Aitken to talk about sulopenem. Have you heard about this oral antibiotic? It was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the use of uncomplicated urinary tract infections (uUTIs). This is an oral penem, and the news of its release has caused different reactions in social media by members of the Microbiology/Infectious Diseases community. What is sulopenem? Why is it combined with probene...
Working in the microbiology field you might be familiar with outbreaks and health care associated infections (HAI). What about linens in health care? What outbreaks have been associated with health care linens (HCLs)? Are there any regulations regarding their use? What about the MOULD study? Luis is joined by Dr. Alex Sundermann to talk about HCLs, regulations, mold-associated outbreaks, and more. Link to Dr. Sundermann's article: https://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/view/health-care-linens-und...
Following the episode with Dr. Kelli Maddock, Luis decided to talk about his favorite organism: Pasteurella ! This time Luis goes into more detail. What are some species of Pasteurella ? Which animals are they found on? Which species are isolated from humans? This episode also covers media, biochemicals, diseases, and more. Questions? Feedback? Send those to letstalkmicro@outlook.com Want to support the podcast? Here's how: Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/letstalkmicro Buy me a Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.c...
Luis and Andrea are back to talk antibiotics! This time they are joined by David Allen, an infectious diseases (ID) pharmacist to talk about another class : oxazolidinones. How familiar are you with this class? Have you performed testing on linezolid in the lab? Then you might be somewhat familiar. What is the mechanism of action? Intrinsic resistance? What organisms does this class have activity against? Tune in to find out. Questions? Feedback? Send those to letstalkmicro@outlook.com Want to s...
This episode features Dr. Kelly Maddock, who delves into Pasteurella multocida, a significant pathogen across animal species and humans. She provides a historical overview, explains the five capsular types and their associated diseases like hemorrhagic septicemia, and discusses the challenges of traditional typing methods. Dr. Maddock also shares insights into her doctoral project, which developed a rapid MALDI-TOF MS model for differentiating these critical strains, and outlines future research.
As a new microbiologist sometimes terms like beta-lactams, beta-lactamases, or penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) can be confusing. Are you familiar with the New-Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM) and its variants? How many are there? How does this enzyme affect beta-lactam drugs?How about NDM-5? In this episode Luis is joined by Dr. Raneem Pallotta, an infectious diseases pharmacist. In the episode we go over these terms. Dr. Pallotta also talks about an NDM-producing E. coli that harbors PBP3 ...
En este episodio en español, Luis conversa con la Dra. Verónica Seija. La Dra. Seija es especialista en microbiología y tiene un blog, redes sociales y un podcast donde habla sobre microbiología bajo el nombre MicroClinUY. ¿ Qué motivó a la Dra. a comenzar a hablar sobre microbiología? ¿Qué tipo de contenido encontramos en sus redes sociales y el podcast? ¿Dónde encuentran el podcast? Sintonizen y no se pierdan de una gran conversación. Enlace al podcast: https://www.microclin.uy/podcast Enlace ...
Luis and Andrea return with a new episode of the AMR series. This time, they are joined by Dr. Nikunj Vyas, and they go over glycopeptides. Whether you are a microbiologist, provider or an ID pharmacist, you are familiar with vancomycin. What is the mechanism of action of glycopeptides? Is there intrinsic resistance? How does a difference in minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) affect treatment? Tune in to learn more. Questions? Feedback? Send those to letstalkmicro@outlook.com Want to support...
🎙️ Throwback to a great episode! Ever wondered what it's like to work in a veterinary diagnostic lab? What kind of training is needed—and can an MLS make the switch from human to animal diagnostics? In this episode of Let's Talk Micro , Luis is joined by Kelli Maddock and Sarah Gefroh from the North Dakota State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. Both are Medical Laboratory Scientists who transitioned from human to veterinary medicine. They share insights on culturing veterinary speci...
One of the very first—and still one of the most downloaded—episodes of Let's Talk Micro dives into biochemicals and how they help us identify bacteria in the clinical lab. What are biochemicals, and why are they so important in Clinical Microbiology? In this episode, I introduce two of the most commonly used tests: catalase and coagulase. Learn how these simple yet powerful reactions help distinguish organisms and guide diagnostic workups in the lab. This episode was originally published on June...
The first episode! Share it with students and peers, In it Luis talks about agar. What is agar? What do we use it for? Various types of agar are discussed like blood agar and MacConkey along with their uses. Questions? Feedback? Send those to letstalkmicro@outlook.com Want to support the podcast? Here's how: Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/letstalkmicro Buy me a Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/letstalkmicro...
A microbicide for Neisseria gonorrhoeae ? In this episode Luis is joined by Dr. María Rendón from the University of Arizona. Dr. Rendón joins the podcast to talk about a novel microbicide that was developed which has activity against N. gonorrhoeae . How does it work? Does it affect commensal Neisseria ? What about methylation signatures? Tune in to learn more about this microbicide. Link to articles referenced in episode: http://microbialcell.com/researcharticles/2019a-so-microbial-cell/ https:...
Are you familiar with the BioFire system? If you work in microbiology you probably are. How about a joint infections panel for this system? In this episode Dr. Angelica Moran and Jekzaly Arellano join the podcast to talk about a study they did evaluating this panel. Why are joint infections difficult to diagnose? Tune in to learn more. Link to article: https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jcm.00182-24 Questions? Feedback? Send those to letstalkmicro@outlook.com Want to support the podcast? Here'...
This week Luis continues going over gram-positive rods: this time Lactobacillus . What is the morphology of Lactobacillus ? Biochemicals? Which species are typically seen in humans? Is it pathogenic or normal flora? What about susceptibilities? All great questions. Tune in to find out about this genera. Questions? Feedback? Send those to letstalkmicro@outlook.com Want to support the podcast? Here's how: Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/letstalkmicro Buy me a Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/letstalkmicro...
If you work with MALDI-TOF MS and you read urine cultures, you probably have seen this organism : Actinotignum schaalii . Is this organism significant? What is the gram stain? Biochemicals? Other questions come up such as we do report it? Do we perform susceptibilities ? Tune in to learn about this emerging pathogen and get answers to all these questions. Questions? Feedback? Send those to letstalkmicro@outlook.com Want to support the podcast? Here's how: Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/letstalkmicro...
Thinking about getting certified in microbiology but not sure where to start? In this episode Luis chats with Dr. Amanda Harrington about certification options through the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP). They cover how to qualify, what the Specialist in Microbiology (SM) is all about, and even options if you haven't gone through a traditional MLS program. If you're curious about leveling up in the lab—this one's for you! Link to certifications in Microbiology from ASCP: https://w...
Dr. Rodney Rohde returns to the podcast! This time he joins Luis to talk about dengue. You might hear reports about increases in cases in some areas, so it was a good time to talk about it. What is dengue? What type of virus it is? Vectors? Prevention? Is there a vaccine? Tune in to learn more about this virus. Link to Dr. Rohde's dengue article: https://asm.org/articles/2024/august/dengue-is-spreading-is-warmer-weather-to-blame More information about dengue: https://www.cdc.gov/dengue/index.htm...
If you work in a clinical microbiology laboratory, you might have worked with bone and joint samples. In this episode we dive deeper into bone and joint infections. Luis is joined by Dr. Joan Gomez-Junyent, an Infectious Diseases physician at Hospital Del Mar in Barcelona, Spain. Dr. Gomez goes over different types of infections. What organisms are typically seen? Is there a typical treatment of choice? How about antimicrobial resistance? Tune in to hear Dr. Gomez go over these questions and mor...
Season 4 is here! Tune in for the first episode. Luis talks to Dr. Paul Hergenrother about lolamicin. Dr. Hergenrother is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois in Urnaba-Champaign. He was previously a guest in the podcast (fabimycin episode) and this time he returns to talk about another potential antibiotic candidate: lolamicin. What is lolamicin? What is the mechanism of action? What organisms does it have activity against? Does it affect the gut microbiota? Link to Dr. Hergen...
Originally published in May 26, 2022, in this episode Luis continues going over beta hemolytic strep: this time Streptococcus anginosus group. What are the species that comprise this group? What is the Lancefield group? What about biochemicals and morphology? Have you heard of Streptococcus pseudoporcinus ? Tune in to find out. Questions? Feedback? Send those to letstalkmicro@outlook.com Want to support the podcast? Here's how: Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/letstalkmicro Buy me a Ko-fi: https://ko-...
Originally published in November 30 2023, in this episode, Dr. Pei Zhou from the Duke University School of Medicine joins the podcast and talks to Luis about LPC-233. This is a compound that shows bactericidal activity against some gram-negative rods. LPC-233 is an LpxC inhibitor. What is LpxC? How does LPC-233 works? What are some challenges of developing LpxC inhibitors? Tune in to find out. Link to article: https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.adf5668 Questions? Feedback? Send those to letsta...
Originally published on October 13, 2022, this episode features Luis in conversation with Dr. Paul Hergenrother from the University of Illinois. Dr. Hergenrother discusses Fabimycin, an antibiotic candidate targeting gram-negative bacteria. What is Fabimycin's mechanism of action? Which bacteria is it active against? Is there any intrinsic resistance? Tune in to find out! Link to article: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acscentsci.2c00598 Questions? Feedback? Send those to letstalkmicro@outlook...
A great way to end season 3! In this episode Dr. Cullen Lilley talks to Luis about his textbook : A Concise Review of Clinical Microbiology . Dr. Lilley is a pathology resident, with a Microbiology background, and a Let's Talk Micro listener! Tune in to learn about what is in this microbiology textbook, what is Ace my Path, what are the roles of a pathologist and more. Link to Ace My Path: https://www.acemypath.com Link to textbook: https://a.co/d/gGDiZ8Z Questions? Feedback? Send those to letst...
In the laboratory we routinely use molecular testing to identify organisms in blood cultures. We also incubate body fluids in blood culture bottles. What if we could use those same tests to identify organisms from body fluids? In this episode Christina Cox and Joel Mortensen join the podcast to talk about this. They performed a study where they used the cobas® eplex system (GenMark) to identify organisms recovered from sterile body fluid cultures. Tune in to hear about the results and the applic...
In this episode of Let's Talk Micro , we're revisiting the topic of respiratory cultures — a cornerstone in clinical microbiology. We'll go over the different types of respiratory specimens, common pathogens recovered, and how to handle yeast when it shows up in cultures. We'll also cover rejection criteria — when a sample should not be processed — and the pitfalls that can affect interpretation. Tune in for a practical walkthrough of respiratory culture workups, from specimen processing to reco...
In this episode Luis is joined by Dr. Crystal Icenhour to talk about the microbiome, more specifically, the human microbiome. What organisms typically make up the microbiome? Do they change between areas of the body? What are some applications for the microbiome? Tune in for another great episode. Questions? Feedback? Send those to letstalkmicro@outlook.com Want to support the podcast? Here's how: Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/letstalkmicro Buy me a Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/letstalkmicro...
ASM Microbe 2024 took place in Atlanta Georgia from June 13-17. Check out this bonus episode where Luis discusses his two events, favorite posters, and more. Questions? Feedback? Send those to letstalkmicro@outlook.com Want to support the podcast? Here's how: Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/letstalkmicro Buy me a Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/letstalkmicro...
Research in MLS? In this episode Grace Leu-Burke, director of the Medical Laboratory Sciences (MLS) program at the University of Alaska in Anchorage, returns to the podcast. She talks to Luis about the research program the MLS students are involved in. They culture scat from moose, bears, and geese, perform identification and susceptibility testing, and more. What kind of antimicrobial resistance is found in this sample population? Tune in to learn more about this research. Link to JAM meeting r...
