Callie

This thread is exceptionally weird Are you planning on making your own body a one microbe zone? I wonder how long you would survive for if you did? Merged post follows: Consecutive posts merged Are the bacteria actually present in the cheese at the time of consumption of have they been removed?

OK first off the lab I work in doesn't do Chlamydia testing. We're a pretty small and specialised Tertiary care hospital, hence me saying that I do not think that we will be of great use for discussions! The MLA question is a bit more relevant. 1 year ago the decision was made to not replace a Band 6 Biomedical Scientist with another but instead to take on 2 MLAs. The justification was that our BMS staff had been putting up all the new work which was something an MLA could easily do. Also our serology section was often left for a day or two so the BMS could cover another bench in times of staff absence. Now we have an MLA doing all the booking in which means we can run all our serology in an afternoon (thereabouts!). From what I understand the powers that be are looking to encourage labs to employ relevant staff to the tasks that need to be completed. I don't really know how/if this works in a larger, busier lab because of the issue of supervisation. Overall it sounds like money saving excercise. I would feel sorry for anyone who takes on an MLA post hoping to progress to BMS as this would reduce their chances even more.

lol

get networking ennui

I'm not totally convinced that is accurate. Have you tried contacting hospitals that have this in place? or tired to speak to NHS immunologists? I *think* great ormond street have a specialised immunology laboratory so maybe try contacting them - perhaps for a look around or just a chat to find out what kind of jobs are available.

I like any beta haemolytic streps - especially the ones that smell like caramel eg S. constellatus. I also like Pseudomonas sp. - P. aeruginosa which has a lovely green pigment to it and it can also produce a shiny metallic pigment too. It smells like grape soda!! There are other Pseuomonads that are pretty colours. Not sure on the GRAS status of those ones though :/

I certainly would be interested but I'm not sure I will be much help to anyone else as I'm a bit of a rubbish scientist. Just for interested sake I work as a Biomedical Scientist in a Microbiology Lab in the UK. I like to think I am still new to the job but I have been working in my lab for 5 years now. I started as an MLA.

because the lab staff must trust that who ever took the swab took it for the right reasons (eg symptoms of infection) and took it correctly. So, if you don't mind me asking why was the swab done?! I'm not sure that Enterococcus is particularly significant from that area but you would have to discuss this with who ever gave you the result. This very much depends on the lab and what their procedures are for such things. The lab I work in stores samples for 1-2 weeks depending on the type of sample.

I work in a lab - never stained any seminal fluid though do I don't know if they stain up with a gram stain. If you send a sample to a microbiology lab they are going to look for microbes! The only time sperm are looked for specifically is when doing sperm counts for people with possible infertility problems. Has anyone actually discussed these results with you? Do you have any symptoms that would indicate an infection? It is also possible that there may be residual sperm cells in a penile swab sample or urine sample but that doesn't make the sample seminal fluid if you see what I mean? I have seen sperms in a urine sample but this was not via a gram stain but by direct microscopy of the urine - so it is possible to see them but as I say unless specifically asked to the lab staff aren't going to/wouldn't report it.

http://gsbs.utmb.edu/microbook/ the above link is an on-line microbiology textbook - you may have more luck finding what you need from books than the net but an on-line book like the one above should help some.

Well I must admit I don't know of these specific species but Bacillus colonies are generally dry looking and crinkly. On TSA I would imagine that Salmonella sp. just look like any other coliform. These are just educated guesses though! You can't really identify an organism from the colonial morphology alone, especially if they are grown on a non-selective agar like TSA. May I ask why you want to know? Are there no text books that might help?

Certain STDs such as gonorrhoea are much less likely to cause a problem in the mouth but there is definately still a risk with other diseases. Pregnancy is not so much of an issue

What type of agar will they be growing on? This can effect the colony morphology, so might be useful to know.

about as much as ^that does

I don't plan on getting married

I imagine that the kind of people who get married and stay faithful would be the kind of people who would have stayed faithful without a ring on their finger/s. Gay couples would have practiced all that marriage without actually having a certificate. I really don't see that would make any difference.

I disagree! Does marriage mean people are actually faithful? I don't think so. Marriage would have no effect on infection rates imo (in either the homo or hetero sexual community).

Wow - you've found a cure for the common cold? you're going to be extremely rich

I think it is fairly well known? By virologists anyway!

Colonial variants can occur. I believe it is down to the expression and non expression of particular genes. The bacteria making the colonies will all have the same DNA just just aren't using all the same genes or they may have some kind of defective gene which ends up changing the morphological appearance of the colony. I don't think it is that common to see colonial variants but when you do see it it is often down to there being a capsule present or absent.

To add to genecks post - to diagnose or check for cancer its a lot more difficult and would involve a lot more tests than a check of the mouth area and teeth. There are programmes in place (in the UK at least, not sure about elsewhere in the world) which look for cancer in those most likely to develop it eg smear tests for women that are sexually active or over the age of ?25, breast screening for older women.

You can quite accurately remove the word anal from that sentance. I do not believe that to be true

"up the bum no babies"

Have you ever thought about how dangerous pregnancy and child birth is?

Im going off on a bit of a tangent, I know but did you hear about the chap who caught anthrax from animals hides in London last month? scary!