Medical Microbiology:

An Introduction

Mahesh Chaudhary
Asst.Professor
Dept. of Microbiology
KIST Medical College,Imadol

Objectives

An overview of Medical Microbiology

Brief history
Challenges we meet now
Books

What is Microbiology?
Micro - too small to be seen with the naked eye
Bio - life
logy - study of
Medical microbiology is the study of microbes that
infect humans, the diseases they cause, and
their diagnosis, prevention and treatment. It also
deals with the response of the human host to
microbial antigens.

Size of bacteria
1micron()- one thousand of mm
1 millimicron (m) or nanometer (nm)- one
thousand of a micron or one millionth of mm
1 Angstrom (A)- one tenth of nanometer
Resolution of Eye- 200 (m)
Bacteria size- 0.2-1.5 x 3-5 m in length

Branches of Microbiology

Bacteriology :
Virology
:
Parasitology :
Mycology :

study of bacteria
study of viruses
study of parasites
study of fungus

*Immunology : study of immunity and immune

response of the human host to
microorganisms.

Organisms Related To Medical

Microbiology
Acellular microbes
Viruses
Prokaryotic microbes
Bacteria
Eubacteria
Spirochetes
Mycoplasma
Eukaryotic microbes
Fungi

Chlamydia
Rickettsiae
Actinomycetes

Microbes are capable of

causing many diseases
PneumoniaWhooping Cough
Botulism
Typhoid Fever
Measles
Cholera
Leprosy
Mumps
Syphilis
Gonorrhea
Herpes 1
Chlamydial inf. Tuberculosis
Herpes 2
Meningitis
Tetanus
Rabies
Strep Throat
Lyme Disease
AIDS
Diarrhea
Gangrene

Nowadays
New pathogens emerged continuously
Hepatitis viruses
HIV
Influenza virus

The mutations of traditional pathogens

Drug resistance became more severe
Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Brief History of Microbiology

Antony van Leeuwenhoek

1674

- 1st person to actually see living microorganisms

Leeuwenhoek 1632-1723

wee animalcules

Louis Pasteur

1822- 1895
French Chemist
Fermentation
Sterilization
Growth needs of
bacteria

Louis Pasteur- contd.

Coined vaccine
Studies on pebrine,
anthrax, chicken
cholera, and
hydrophobia

Developments of
methods and
techniques for
cultivation of
microbes
Conclusive evidence
of microorganism in
disease production

Joseph Lister(1867)
Father of antiseptic
surgery

Antiseptic technique
in surgery
Carbolic acid used
in hand washing

Robert Koch

Father of medical
microbiology

German- 1843-1910
Staining techniques
Solid media (agar)
Discovered MTB,
Cholera
Anthrax

Robert Koch- Postulates

Bacterium should constantly associated
with the lesions of the disease

It should be able to isolate the

bacterium in pure culture from the
lesions

Contd..

Inoculation of such pure culture into

suitable animals should reproduce the
lesion

It should be possible to re-isolate the

bacterium in pure culture from the
lesions produced in the experimental
animal

 Specific antibodies to the bacterium

should be demonstrable in the serum of
the patients suffering from the disease

Exceptions to Kochs Postulates

1. Some organisms have never been
grown in pure culture on artificial media
Treponema pallidum - Syphilis

Exceptions to Kochs Postulates

Mycobacterium leprae
Leprosy

Never been grown in pure culture on artificial media

Abdominal cavity of the Seven Banded Armadillo

Koch established the

Microbial Etiology of 3
important diseases of his day
1. Cholera (fecal-oral disease)
Vibrio cholerae

2. Tuberculosis (pulmonary infection)

Mycobacterium tuberculosis

3. Anthrax (sheep and cattle)

Bacillus anthracis

Other Scientists
Hansen(1874)-Lepra Weichselbumbacilli
meningococcus
Neisser(1881) Roux and Yersin Gonococcus
Diphtheria toxin
Klebs Loefflers Yersin Plague
Diphtheria
bacillus
Frankel (1886)Pneumococcus

Discovery of Virus
Iwanovski
a Russian chemist,
1892
Tobacco Mosaic
Disease

Walter Reed, USA

Yellow fever virus
Ist human virus

Tobacco mosaic disease,

caused by the tobacco
mosaic virus

Books
Text Book of Microbiology MicrobiologyR. Ananthanarayan and CK Jayaram
Paniker
A Text Book of Microbiology
Microbiology P Chakraborthy
Text Book of Parasitology- Chatterjee,
Panikar, Icchpujani