Bacteria And The Fifty-Dollar Bill

The dirtiest thing you own maybe your cell phone. Imagine what touches your phone the most, probably your hands and face. Since cell phones are everywhere and have become one of the most helpful tools of our generation, they have their drawbacks. The use of cell phones happens everywhere today, one place being the hospital. From a study of phones and spreading of bacteria associated with health care associated infections, Karabay states, “Our study reveals that mobile phones may get contaminated by bacteria (such as Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae), which cause hospital infections, and may serve as a vehicle for the spread of nosocomial pathogens” (Karabay, 2007). Touching contaminated

There are many types of bacteria that can be found in your bathroom. They might also be found on your toothbrush! I have been researching about what bacteria are lurking in my bathroom. I placed 6 petri dishes filled with agar in my bathroom. I left them there for 24 hours to collect bacteria samples.

The Unknown Bacteria 36/Bacteria # 2 on a TSA plate was examined by the naked eye and under a dissecting microscope. Bacteria # 2 was approximately 3 - 4 mm in diameter. They were circular in form with an entire margin and a flat elevation. The colonies were rough (granular), translucent, and white brownish color with black granules. The Gram stain resulted in a Gram negative rod. After the Gram stain was completed, the bacteria were streaked on an Eosin -Methylene Blue Agar plate and an Enterotube II was inoculated.

This experiment illustrates the importance of handwashing and proves that hand washing is worth it. Since our hands are constantly coming into contact with ourselves and others, touching surfaces, grabbing objects, being sneezed into, etc., keeping our hands clean is one of the most effective, yet simple way we can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others. Many diseases and conditions are spread by not washing hands with soap and clean, running warm water. “The human skin is a host to anywhere between 10,000-10,000,000 bacteria per square centimeter and since health care providers come into contact with pathogenic bacteria by being engaged in patient care, hand washing can reduce the risk of spreading diseases (page 3).” The objective of the experiment is to test the effectiveness of hand washing and demonstrate normal flora. This report presents the procedures and materials for the experiment, the experiment's results, and an analysis of those results.

Hospital acquired infections (HAIs) affect over 1.7 million patients each year, causing almost 100,000 deaths annually in the United States alone (Johnson, 2010). According to the World Health Organization, HAIs are the most frequent adverse event in the healthcare industry. Fortunately, most of these infections can be prevented with one single intervention, proper hand hygiene (“The Evidence,” n.d.). Four out of five pathogens that cause illness are spread by direct contact. Proper hand hygiene eliminates these pathogens and helps to prevent cross-contamination and HAIs (Linton, 2015; “Hand Hygiene,” n.d.). Reduction of cross-contamination and HAIs improves patient outcomes, increases employee wellness, and lowers health care costs. Adherence to proper hand hygiene is the single most important safety measure in the health care setting. However, for many years compliance to proper hand hygiene in the healthcare industry has been dismally low. New and inventive measures must be implemented to increase compliance to proper hand hygiene and lower the rate of hospital-acquired infections.

Bacteria that are resistant to several types of antibiotics are called multi-resistant bacteria (also known as superbugs). Superbugs have caused a global epidemic, hiding in plain sight. Every year, superbugs kill off thousands of people, rob them of their health insurance and cost the state millions in order to control this so called epidemic.

Two smears of the unknown bacterium #5 were inoculated while the second smear was used for a back up. The unknown bacterium dried for at least forty minutes. After the smears dried, the slides were heat fixed two times to ensure the stability of the organism. The slide was placed on top of the staining rack then over the small sink.

The pathogen in the NPR story was called Klebsiella pneumoniae, which is a Gram-negative coccobacilli, relatively small, (0.5-0.8/ 1-2um), does not form spores, and is easily fixed. ("Klebsiella Pneumoniae Morphology") This pathogen is arranged either singly or in pairs and clusters, and can be cultivated on ordinary media. On agar media, the bacteria forms grayish-white colonies which

A Superbug is a bacterium that can live in the human body and has the ability to withstand all forms of antibiotic medication. Superbugs are becoming increasingly significant in modern medicine as they are becoming more and more resistant to antibiotics. Antibiotics were discovered in 1928 by Alexander Fleming (Walsh and McManus, 2000). This resulted in a huge movement forward in medical history and even greatened human life expectancy. Since then antibiotics have been widely used and abused, people began to treat everything with this ‘miracle’ drug. If antibiotics are continually used as bacteria grows exponentially more resistant to them then eventually society will fall back into an era without the readily

4.) To further differentiate the bacteria from other options, obtain 1 TSA plate and perform a

Things that are used commonly by students and staff should be routinely disinfected to ensure the health and safety of the people using the provided materials. Bacteria is related to disease (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1885) Previous studies on the surface of a high school telephone showed that the phones had an uncountable number of bacteria colonies (Yalowitz, 2003). We know that surfaces used by the public often become contaminated because of the bacteria on peoples hands. A study on the bacteria on peoples hands showed that 28% of people have fecal matter on their hands (Judah, 2010). A study done on the contamination on public doorknobs showed that over 86.7% were contaminated (Nworie, 2012). This experiment was to show us how much bacteria is on the surface of the things we use

An unknown bacterium 15 was awarded and labeled at the table ready to be identified. Using the skills and test that are taught and learned in microbiology were applied into learning what the unknown bacteria culture was. There were multiple procedures and test done in order to gain all the information needed to determine which bacteria was given. In order to find what the bacteria was the first step was finding the right environment and temperature that would allow the bacteria to thrive and grow. Determining this is one of the most important steps in being able to obtain conclusive results that would allow the results of the test to be accurate and correct. Without the correct temperature and environment the bacteria will give inconclusive results which will alter and skew the end results and may lead to the wrong conclusion. By using the methods that were obtained and learned through the microbiology class allowed the skills and knowledge to determine the bacteria and execute the tests in order to determine the culture.

a. According to Tim Prosser Futuring.wordpress.com TP might be knitted at the molecular level using nanotechnology, this material will have antibacterial properties not unlike some pens and children’s toys we see today.(http://timprosserfuturing.wordpress.com/2008/04/25/the-future-of-toilet-paper/)

· Describe how a piece of foreign DNA can become a part of a plasmid that ends up altering the final phenotype of cells

It is undeniable that the recent discovery of antibiotics and disinfectants in the past century is leading to the creation of increasingly dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Super bugs like Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus have begun breaking out in hospital areas, killing more and more patients due to the lack of people following through with simple safety measures. In order to stop the creation and spread of antibiotic-resistant super bugs, proper precautions must be taken such as avoiding antibacterial cleaners, following through with instructions when taking prescriptions and maintaining adequate hand hygiene. Through adhering to basic safety rules, the creation and spread of super bugs can be minimized and all together