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Giardia lamblia is a parasite which is found in 30% of developing countries and 3-7% of United States Population. Thus, living standards have a definite effect on the prevalence of Giardiasis. In this article we will discuss, the morphology of Giardia lamblia, its life cycle, habitat, transmission, how does Giardia cause disease, Clinical signs and symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment. Morphology of Giardia lamblia 1. Morphology of Trophozoite Shape: It has a pear-like shape. Nuclei: It contains two nuclei, one on each side of the body Flagella: It has four pairs of flagella, which help in locomotion. Sucking Disc: It has a circular sucking disc, which is situated on the ventral surface. Giardia attaches to the intestinal wall with the help of this sucking disc. 2. Morphology of Giardia Cyst It is oval in shape and contains four nuclei. Each organism of giardia contains two nuclei, so when a cyst hatches it releases two trophozoites. Life Cycle of Giardia Lamblia Giardia lamblia...

Parasite: A parasite is a living organism which gets nutrition and protection from another organism where it lives. Parasites enter into the human body through mouth, skin and genitalia. In this article, we will generally discuss the types and classification of parasites. It is important from an academic point of view. Those parasites are harmful, which derives their nutrition and other benefits from the host and host get nothing in return but suffers from some injury. Types of Parasites Ecto-parasite: An ectoparasite lives outside on the surface of the body of the host. Endo-parasite: An endo-parasite lives inside the body of the host, it lives in the blood, tissues, body cavities, digestive tract or other organs. Temporary parasite: A temporary parasite visits its host for a short period of time. Permanent parasite: Permanent parasite lives its whole life in the host. Facultative parasite: A facultative parasite can live both independently and dependently. It lives in the...

There are some species of bacteria and fungi that are a permanent resident of specific sites of our body. Bacteria and fungi are included in the normal flora, viruses and parasites are not a part of normal flora. These bacteria and fungi which are normal and permanent residents of specific sites of our body, don’t usually cause the disease, but they may cause disease in certain situations. Usually, they protect us from diseases by competing with the disease-causing bacteria for space and food. Normal Flora of Human Body Normal Flora of Skin The following bacteria and fungi are part of normal and permanent inhabitants of the skin Staphylococcus epidermidis Staphylococcus aureus Corynebacterium diphtheria Group G streptococci Pseudomonas aeruginosa Peptococcus Candida albicans (fungi) Normal flora of Respiratory Tract Nose: Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Corynebacterium diphtheria, and other streptococci are the part of the normal flora of nose. Throat, La...

Our intestine is a natural habitat of many species of bacteria. But these naturally occurring bacteria do not have any harmful effect on the human body. In fact, they are beneficial in many ways. · They provide us with some good vitamins such as vitamin K · They protect us from obesity and diabetes mellitus · They protect us from gastrointestinal infections · They protect us from indigestion and heartburn · They help in the breakdown of toxic waste products into a less toxic form. Obesity, diabetes mellitus, gastrointestinal infections, indigestion and heartburn, all are the risk factors of Gastroesophageal reflux disease (reflux of stomach acids into the oesophagus) and chronic reflux may cause metaplastic changes in lower oesophagal portion and thus, convert normal oesophagus to Barrett's oesophagus. The normal bacteria present in the gut prevent the growth of disease-causing bacteria through competing for food and space. Thus they protect us from getting infection and dis...

Naegleria fowleri or The brain-eating amoeba. Brain-eating amoeba is a dangerous parasite which lives in fresh warm water, for example, lakes, and hot streams. Brain-eating amoeba is generally found in hot lakes of American South West. But now brain-eating amoeba has been identified in many other countries too. Recently It has killed 10 people in Karachi ( a City of Pakistan ). Karachi is situated at the coast of Arabian Sea. - Brain-eating amoeba is a deadly parasite. It develops as an amoeba. It enters the human body when water splashes through the nose. A nerve called olfactory nerve enters the brain through the holes in the bone which separates the cranial cavity from the nasal cavity. It attaches itself to the olfactory nerve and destroys its cells then it follows the nerve root to the brain where the amoeba starts consuming the brain cells, it means it damages the brain the vital organ of the body.  Symptoms of Brain Eating Amoeba Infection Symptoms of the infection in...

In this Powerpoint/flash lecture following topics are discussed: 1. Gram-negative bacteria 2. Gram-negative rods and cocci 3. Classification of gram-negative bacteria 4. Aerobic, anaerobic, facultative anaerobes. 5. Bacteroides fragilis and diseases caused by bacteroid fragilis 6. Traponema Palladium and diseases caused by it and appearance ( syphilis, Primary, secondary, tertiary and congenital syphilis. 7. Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme disease) 8. Leptospira interrogans 9. Rickettsia reckettsii 10. Diseases caused by Rickettsia reckettsii ( Rocky Mountain spotted fever,) 11. Coxiella burnetii ( Q fever ) 12. Chlaymidia trachomatis ( trachoma ) 13. Mycoplasma pneumonia This lecture was delivered by Dr. Tayyab Saeed Akhtar at Foreign's Student Academy

In this powerpoint/flash lecture following topics are discussed: 1. Gram Positive and Gram Negative Bacteria 2. How to differentiate between gram positive and gram negative bacteria 3. How to differentiate between different species of bacteria, for example, staphylococci and streptococci 4. What is catalase reaction 5. Streptococcus Bacteria 6. What is alpha and beta hemolysis 7. How to differentiate between different groups of beta hemolytic bacteria 8. Diseases caused by Streptococcus Group A bacteria                Pharyngitis                Scarlet Fever                Impetigo 9. Diseases caused by Streptococcus Group B bacteria                Neonatal Septicemia                Meningitis 10. Alpha hemolytic bacteria and diseases caused by alpha hemolytic bacteria ...

Phases Of Bacterial Growth In A Culture Medium Bacterial growth is studied by analyzing the growth curve of microbial culture. Because no fresh medium is provided during incubation, nutrient concentrations decline and concentration of wastes increase. The growth of microorganism reproducing by binary fission can be plotted as the logarithm of the number of viable cells versus the incubation period. The resulting curve has four distinct phases. Phase 1: The Lag Phase. When microorganisms are introduced into a fresh culture medium, usually no immediate increase in cell number occurs, and therefore this period is called the lag phase. Although cell division does not take place right away and there is no net increase in mass, the cell is synthesizing new components. A lag phase prior to the start of cell division can be necessary for a variety of reasons. The cell may be old and depleted of ATP, essential co-factors and ribosomes; these must...

Streptococcus Pneumonia: Morphology : Shape : The individual organism is lancet-shaped. Arrangement:

Triple Sugar Iron Medium (TSI medium) This medium is prepared in a test tube, the upper portion is called slant and the lower portion is called butt. Composition: 1. Glucose, 2. Sucrose 3. Lactose 4. Ferrous sulphate 5. Tissue extracts (proteins) 6. Phenol red (indicator) Container: Test tube. Colour: Red before reaction (alkaline) yellow after reaction (acidic) Black after hydrogen sulphide gas production due to the formation of FeS. Consistency : Solid medium Uses: This medium is used to differentiate Salmonella and Shigella from other enteric gram-negative rods in stool culture. Micro-organisms/bacteria are cultured. Salmonella and shigella produce:  a). Alkaline slant (red) b). Acidic but with no gas (yellow without bubbles) c) salmonella produces hydrogen sulphide gas but Shigella don't. Other enteric Gram-negative rods produce: a. Acidic slant (yellow) b. Acidic butt with gas ( yellow with bubbles) e.g E. coli Table: Reactions shown by vari...

MacConkey's Medium: Composition: 1. Nutrient agar 2. Bile salt (sodium taurocholate) 3. Lactose 4. Neutral red (indicator) Container : Petri dish Colour : Transparent, reddish-brown or pink colour Consistency: Solid medium. Micro-organism cultured? It is used for: 1. growth and isolation of bacteria of family Enterobacteriaceae and to differentiate between lactose fermenters, non-lactose fermenters and late lactose fermenters. Lactose Fermenters: form pink colonies, for example; E. coli, Klebsiella species, Enterobacter species Non-lactose fermenters: from colorless colonies, for example, shigella species except shigella sonnie, salmonella species, proteus species and pseudomanas species. Late lactose fermenters: form pink colonies after 2-3 days of inoculation. for example, Vibrio cholera, Serratia, Citrobacter, Shigella sonnei. Important Culture Media: a) Nutrient agar b) Blood agar c)Chocolate agar d)McConkey's Medium e) Lowenstein Jensen (LJ) m...

Blood Agar: Composition: 1. Sterile defibrinated blood 5-10 % 2. Melted agar 3. Beef extract 4. Peptone water 5. NaCl container: Petri dish Colour: Opaque red. Consistency: Solid medium. Micro-organism Cultured. This media is used to determine the haemolytic properties of bacteria. 1. Complete (beta) hemolytic bacteria :- Streptococcus pyogenes, 2. Incomplete (alpha) hemolytic bacteria: - Streptococcus viridans, Streptococcus pneumoniae 3. No (gamma) hemolysis:- Staphylococcus Albus, staphylococcus citrus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, etc. Important Culture Media: a) Nutrient agar b) Blood agar c)Chocolate agar d)McConkey's Medium e) Lowenstein Jensen (LJ) medium f) Loeffler's Coagulated Medium g) Robertson's cooked meat medium ) Tripple sugar iron (TSI) medium i) Christensen's Urea Medium j) Simmon Citrate Medium k) Peptone Water l) Nutrient Broth m) Sugar Media

Chocolate Agar: Composition: its composition is the same as blood agar . that is 1. sterile defibrinated blood 5-10 % 2. Melted agar 3. Beef extract, 4. Peptone water 5. NaCl A blood agar plate is put in boiling water for about 1 hour until its colour changes from red to chocolate brown. Heating converts Haemoglobin into hematin. Container: petri dish. Colour : Opaque Chocolate colour Consistency: solid medium Micro-organism Cultured. 1. Haemophilus influenzae 2. Neisseria gonorrheae 3. Neisseria meningitidis 4. streptococcus pneumoniae. Important Culture Media: a) Nutrient agar b) Blood agar c)Chocolate agar d)McConkey's Medium e) Lowenstein Jensen (LJ) medium f) Loeffler's Coagulated Medium g) Robertson's cooked meat medium h) Triple sugar iron (TSI) medium i) Christensen's Urea Medium j) Simmon Citrate Medium k) Peptone Water l) Nutrient Broth m) Sugar Media.

Loeffler's Coagulated Medium: Composition: 1. Ox, sheep or horse serum 2. 1% glucose broth Container: Test tube. Colour: milky white Consistency: Solid medium Micro-organism/bacteria cultured: Corynebacterium diphtheria Important Culture Media: a) Nutrient agar b) Blood agar c)Chocolate agar d)McConkey's Medium e) Lowenstein Jensen (LJ) medium f) Loeffler's Coagulated Medium g) Robertson's cooked meat medium h) Triple sugar iron (TSI) medium i) Christensen's Urea Medium j) Simmon Citrate Medium k) Peptone Water l) Nutrient Broth m) Sugar Media.

Christensen's Urea Medium: Composition 1. Monopotassium phosphate 2. Agar 3. Phenol red 4. Peptone Water 5. NaCl. Container: Test tube Colour: Pink before reaction. red after urea-splitting in urease positive organisms. Consistency. Liquid Medium Uses and bacteria cultured. To demonstrate urease activity by Proteus species Morganella morganii and Helicobacter pylori. Important Culture Media: a) Nutrient agar b) Blood agar c)Chocolate agar d)McConkey's Medium e) Lowenstein Jensen (LJ) medium f) Loeffler's Coagulated Medium g) Robertson's cooked meat medium h) Triple sugar iron (TSI) medium i) Christensen's Urea Medium j) Simmon Citrate Medium k) Peptone Water l) Nutrient Broth m) Sugar Media.

Simmon Citrate Midium: Composition: 1. Mineral Salt solution (bactor agar) 2. Bactro-bron thymol blue (indicator) Container : Test tube. Colour: 1. Green before reaction 2. Blue after reaction Consistency: Liquid medium Bacteria cultured: It is used to demonstrate citrate utilization by; Klebsiella and Proteus species. Important Culture Media: a) Nutrient agar b) Blood agar c)Chocolate agar d)McConkey's Medium e) Lowenstein Jensen (LJ) medium f) Loeffler's Coagulated Medium g) Robertson's cooked meat medium h) Triple sugar iron (TSI) medium i) Christensen's Urea Medium j) Simmon Citrate Medium k) Peptone Water l) Nutrient Broth m) Sugar Media.