Essays on Pneumoniae

INTRODUCTION

Klebsiella pneumoniae belongs to Klebsiella species of Enterobacteriaceae and constitutes the normal flora of the human mouth and intestine. K. pneumonia is the most predominant and clinically critical organism. Infections with K. pneumoniae are mostly contracted from the hospitals and principally occur in patients with damaged host defenses. The objective of this study is to perform techniques to identify the bacterium in the given sample and confirm its presence by staining and microscopic analysis.

Streaking may be performed on the clinical sample using Mac Conkey agar or blood agar with the goal of isolating colonies of the organism from ...

Why Pneumococcal Infections is a Global Health Problem

Pneumococcal infections are mainly caused by streptococcus pneumoniae also known as pneumococcus. Serious pneumococcal infections are a major global health problem. By the year 2010, the World Health Organization estimates that more than 1.6 million people – including more than 800,000 children under the age of 5 years – die every year from pneumococcal infections (Georgiev, 2009). Nearly all of these infections and deaths occur in the world’s poorest countries. These include Sub-Saharan African countries, Latin America, South Asia, some parts of Europe and Australia. In Latin America, epidemiological studies show that infants younger than 6 months have a higher risk ...

Edwin’s symptoms of high fever, a stiff neck, and severe headaches indicate that he suffers from meningitis. Although Edwin does not report any other sick students that live with him, meningitis is not as contagious as the flu (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2011), so it is possible that there will be no outbreak among the residents in his fraternity house. While meningitis is associated with high leukocyte counts, that piece of information is not relevant for distinguishing the type of meningitis. Further diagnostic tests are required to identify other factors that will allow a clear distinction between ...