Coli Information and Courses from MediaLab, Inc.

These are the MediaLab courses that cover Coli and links to relevant pages within the course.

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CLIA Blood Banking Review
Which BBP is not covered in the OSHA Bloodborne Pathogen Standard?	View Page

CLIA Microbiology / Serology Review
This suspicious form, found in a stool sample, measures 15 micro meters.	View Page
I measure 15 micro meters and am found in stool.	View Page
I reside in the mouth where I measure approximately 17 micro meters.	View Page
I measure 12 micro meters and am found in stool.	View Page
Which of the following organisms is the most common cause of acute cystitis:	View Page
The most frequent cause of bacterial meningitis in older adults is:	View Page
The indole test may be used to differentiate members of which of the following species:	View Page
Which of the following organisms is most likely to be associated with gas gangrene:	View Page
Which one of the following statements about E.coli O157:H7 is false:	View Page
The red/pink color of the colonies (E. coli) seen on this MacConkey Agar Plate is an indication of:	View Page

Current Topics in Clinical Microbiology
The colonies shown in the blood agar (upper) and MacConkey agar (lower) biplate are a 24 hour growth from an aerobic blood culture bottle that became positive at 12 hours after inoculation. The appearance of the colonies on MacConkey agar rules out the following two bacterial species:	View Page
The reactions seen in the portion of the API strip shown in the photograph, effectively rules out Escherichia coli.	View Page
Clinical isolates of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae may possess ESBL activity. Therefore, clinical laboratories should be screening all clinically significant isolates of these two species.	View Page
ESBL Activity Illustrated is the picture of the surface of a disk diffusion test including a ceftazidime disk (left) and a combintation ceftazidime/clavulanic acid disk (right).Observe in the photograph that the zone of inhibition around the the combination ceftazidime/clavulanic acid disk (right) is at least 5 mm larger than around the clavulanic acid disk (left).This observation that the presence of clavulanic acid, a beta-lactamase inhibitor, has resulted in such a large increase in the zone of inhibition indicates that an extended spectrum beta lactamase (ESBL)is being produced.When an organism is producing an ESBL, the susceptibility to individual cephalosporins cannot be predicted, thus requiring that each drug must be tested individually.It may be important to detect ESBL-producing stains of K. pneumoniae and E. coli as treatment failure may occur if the wrong cephalosporin is selected.	View Page
Extended Spectrum Beta Lactamases In follow-up to the observations of the ESBL screening test, the following antibiotic susceptibility profile was later reported: Ampicillin = R; Cefazolin = R; Cefoxitin 1 = S; Ciprofloxacin 0.25 = S; Gentamicin 1 = S; Ceftazidime 32 = R; Imipenem The susceptibility of the 2nd generation drug cefoxitin, with resistance of the 1st generation cefazolin and the 3rd generation ceftazidime, is another way in addition to the screening test in which ESBL activity may be detected. It is recommended that clinical microbiologists check the antibiotic susceptibility profiles for possible ESBL activity of clinically significant isolates of K. pneumoniae and E. coli.Most automated systems have built in methods for automatically detecting an ESBL isolate, or provide an "alert" that such a strain may be present.	View Page

Introduction to Bioterrorism
Category B Agents in Food and Water A subset of Category B agents comprise pathogens that are food or waterborne. These pathogens include but are not limited to: Salmonella species Shigella dysenteriae Escherichia coli 0157:H7 Vibrio chloerae Cryptosporidium parvum	View Page

Reading Gram Stained Direct Smears
Quality Control Smears Quality control smears are stained at the same time as the patient's slides.They must be examined before you examine the patient's slides.If properly stained, the Staphylococcus aureus on the positive control slide will stain blue, or gram positive.The Escherichia coli on the negative control slide will stain red, or gram negative.If these slides are not stained properly, the problem must be resolved and new slides made before the patient specimen is examined.	View Page
The smears used for quality control are: (Choose ALL of the correct answers)	View Page
Evaluation of Controls If stains and technique are adequate, S. aureus should be gram positive (blue) and E. coli should be gram negative (pink). If control slides do react appropriately, reliable results cannot be assured for the specimen smears. Check stains and technique and prepare more control smears until proper results are achieved, then remake and stain the new direct smears. If it is impossible to prepare a new smear, the poorly stained smear may still be salvaged. Remove immersion oil from the smear using xylol. Use appropriate procedures and personal protective equipment when using xylol, since it is hazardous chemical. If the smear is underdecolorized, repeat the decolorization and counterstain steps. If the smear is overdecolorized, the slide should be stained again.	View Page
Gram negative cocci which occur in pairs with their adjacent sides flattened, giving them a coffee bean shape are:	View Page

Reading Gram Stained Smears From Cultures
Which of the following statements are TRUE for the Gram positive control smear?	View Page
Control Slides Control slides must be checked before examining patients' smears. The positive control, Staphylococcus aureus, should stain blue and the negative control, Escherichia coli, should stain pink. Control slides serve as a quality control mechanism for staining reagents and techniques. Control slides should be prepared daily and when a new bottle/lot # of stain is used.	View Page