One night, I was setting up some tests manually due to instrument issues. Productivity slows down whenever we experience machine problems. Trust me, doing everything manually is a pain in the neck. Suddenly, one of my colleagues approached me and showed me his results from the MALDI-TOF.
He hit the jackpot! It's not often you get an organism worth reporting to the state health department, let alone two! My coworker's concern was whether or not those were real. Oh, they were real. One patient had Candida auris, and the other had Corynebacterium diphtheriae. He wasn't sure what to do, so I walked him through the process.
Fortunately for them, the sites of collection suggest their lives were not in immediate danger. Neither case was from deep wounds or immunocompromised patients. The organisms were from superficial sites. Nevertheless, the clinical sites and physicians would also appreciate a heads-up.
In general, C auris is more or less an opportunistic fungus. Its drug resistance may seem scary, but a healthy person would not have issues with it. The most dangerous aspect of C. diphtheriae is its toxin. Before it could become a respiratory infection, it is often on the surface of other parts of the body. Most people in the US should have already received the vaccines against it.
Anyway, I walked my colleague through all the entities he had to contact. Then, we prepared the cultures for send-outs to the state labs. A bit of hassle later, we've done our part in patient care. With proper techniques and precautions, these encounters are not apocalyptic events.
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Interesting post @enforcer48. Microorganisms can become very complicated when not caught early, currently my father is fighting Staphylococcus aureus that colonized a wound under his jaw (this is why my absence at Hive these days). Fortunately, the damage was only to the skin and there were no complications, but my father is still beaten up by the "salad" of antibiotics he must take for a couple more days, while he finishes closing the wound.
The world under the microscope is very interesting, I can imagine how many fungi or bacteria you have encountered in your work, greetings and happy weekend
Yeah staph infections can be very nasty. I’m glad there wasn’t any complications.
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Great job! C. diph can be very nasty, thank God for vaccines. I should probably get a TDP booster come to think of it!
One of the ones that work.
Definitely the way to go! Scary that some are better than others...
When you hear hooves, they teach doctors, look for horses not zebras. Sometimes, it actually is a zebra.
I'm one of the rare people in the U. S. never vaccinated against diptheria. Somehow, it just never got done.
That’s pretty lucky.
I only come across these organisms a few times a year anyways. Might change with increased refugee numbers here though.
It looks easy to notify the State health agency? Interesting never heard about this Candida species. I am not a specialist in yeast infections as well hehe
Just a command line away.
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