Introduction

to
Microbiology

Dr. Eiman Mokaddas MD, FRCPath

Associate Professor
Microbiology Department
Faculty of Medicine

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 History
Contagion: Spread of disease
 Pioneers responsible for the science of
bacteriology:
 Antony van Leeuwenhoek: discovered the
microscope in 1675
 Louis Psteur: The founder of modern
Microbiology( 1860-1890): culture methods,
principles of immunization
 Joseph Lister: professor of surgery in Glascow.
Applied Pasteur’s observations to prevention of
wound sepsis. In 1867 invented antiseptic
technique to kill bacteria in wounds
 Robert Koch: German GP who discovered the
bacterial causes of many diseases including
tuberculosis in 1882 ( Koch’s postulates)

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 Definitions
 Microorganisms are minute living things
that cannot be seen with the naked eye.
 Microbial pathogens are microorganisms
that have structures or products that
allow them to cause disease.
 Microbiology is the study of all organisms
in the microscopic range.
 This include bacteria, fungi, algae,
viruses and protozoa.

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 Classification of
Microorganisms

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 Classification of Microorganisms
 Prokaryotes Eukaryotes Viruses
 Bacteria Fungi
 Cyanobacteria Protozoa

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 Property Prokaryotic Eukaryotic
cells cells

Chromosome one Multiple

number
Size 1-10um 10-100 um

Nuclear Absent Present

membrane
Mitochodria Absent Present

Ribopsomes 70s 80s

sterols Absent Present

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 Classification of
Microorganisms
Nomanclature (Naming)
 Genus e.g. Staphylococcus
 Species e.g Staphylococcus
aureus

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 Bacteria
 Are unicellular organisms without a defined
nucleus
 They vary in shape, size, metabolic activity,
motility, and requirement for physical and
chemical agents
 They reproduce by asexually by binary fission
 They occur as cocci (spherical), bacilli ( rods)
spirilli (spirals), vibros (coma shaped) , wavy
(spirochetes).
 Divided into two broad types by the Gram stain:
Gram positive, Gram negative
 In culture, they are arranged as pairs, tetrads,
clusters and chains.

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 Bacterial shapes

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 The Gram Stain

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 Fungi and
moulds
 Are microscopic and macroscopic,
can exist as unicellular or
multicellular bodies
 Are widely distributed in nature,
like dark, moist and humid
environments
 Cause diseases ranging from
superficial to systemic infections.

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 Viruses
 Are smaller than bacteria and are visible
only with electron microscopes
 Are strict parasites growing only in living
cells e.g. fertile eggs and tissue culture
 They possess a central core which is
either DNA or RNA
 May cause disease in humans, animals,
insects and plants
 Viruses also infect bacteria
( bacteriophages)

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 Transmission and
control of
microbial
pathogens
Definitions:
 Host: is an organism that harbors
another organism
 Pathogenicity: is the capacity of
microorganism to cause disease
 A Pathogen: is an organism that is
capable of causing disease
 Virulence: the degree of intensity of the
disease produced
 Virulence factors: microbial factors that
allow an organism to cause disease

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  Infection: is the invasion and damage to
tissues by microorganisms
 Disease: the observable disturbance of
the state of health whereby the body is
unable to carry out normal functions
 Colonization: the continuing presence
of microorganisms usually for weeks,
months or even years without injury or
invasion of host tissues
 Normal flora: are microorganisms that
normally inhabit different body surfaces,
including the skin, hair, nails, mucous
membranes of the digestive tract,
respiratory tract, urethra and vagina.

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 Types of
Pathogens
 Primary Pathogens: Microorganisms which can
cause diseases in normal hosts i.e., those with
normal defense mechanism
 Enzymes- hyaluronidase, catalases,
coagulase
 Avoidance of phagocytosis
 capsules

 Conventional pathogen
 Conditional pathogen
 Opportunistic pathogen:
 Microorganisms which do not cause disease
in normal hosts but do so in hosts with
impaired defenses.

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 Benefits of non
pathogenic
microorganisms
 1. Contribution to health e.g. normal flora
 2. Food production e.g. yogurt, bread, spreads
 e.g vegemite
 3. Chemical production- enzymes, antibiotics,
vitamins
 4. Genetic engineering- production of hormones,
insulin etc
 5. Elimination of pollution- bioremediation,
degradation of toxic compounds e.g.
polychlorinated biophenyls (PCB), cleaning up of
oil spills

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 Microbial
pathogenesis (How
microorganisms cause
disease)
 Adherence-
 leadsto colonization and invasion.
 Adhesisn, fimbriae, pilli, capsules.

 Toxin production-
 endotoxins, exotoxins,
neurotoxins, cytotoxins
 Substances that damage host

tissue or impede host defenses

 Haemolysins, leucocidins,
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 Bacterial toxins

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 Sources and
reservoirs of
infection
 Source: The source of infection is the site from
which spread occurs to the host. These include
 Inanimate objects: water, food (fruits and
vegetables), equipment
 Animals: snails, fish, milk, uncooked or
undercooked meat, fish etc.
 Humans: infected individuals, those
incubating an illness, those with subclincal
infection and those recovering from infection.
 Reservoir: a reservoir is the organism’s usual
residence, where it reside and replicates

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  Route of transmission:
 1. Contact transmission:
 Direct: person to person- skin
infection
 Indirect contact: via an object.

 2. Common vehicle :
 anobject touches a source or
reservoir before the host
 3. Airborne transmission e.g.
droplet nuclei
 4. Vector borne e.g. malaria,
dengue (mosquitoes), Salmonella
food poisoning (flies)
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  Mode of transmission:
 Faecal - oral route- (food, water),
Droplet, Blood and direct contact.
 Portal of entry:
 Mouth and gastrointestinal tract,
respiratory tract, skin, genital tract.

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 Source of
transmission of
microbial pathogens
 Exogenous infections:
 Arising from outside the host.
 Can occur by ingestion, inhalation,
inoculation (insect bites), implantation
( surgical wounds or transfusion), sexual
intercourse.
 Endogenous infections: ( arising from
within).
 Occurs when normal flora becomes an
conditional or opportunistic pathogen.

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 Etiology of
infectious disease
 Koch’s postulate:
 1. The same pathogen must be present
in every case of the disease
 2. The pathogen must be isolated from
the diseased host and grown in pure
culture.
 3.The pathogen from the pure culture
must cause the disease when inoculated
into a healthy susceptible laboratory
animal
 4. The pathogen must be re-isolated
from the inoculated animal.

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  Exception to Koch’s postulate:
 1. Koch postulates are modified to
establish etiologies for diseases caused
by viruses and bacteria that can not by
grown on artificial media
 2. Some diseases such as pneumonia
and nephritis may be caused by a variety
of microorganisms
 3. Some pathogens e.g. Streptococcus
pyogenes cause different diseases
 4. Some diseases may not have well
defined signs and symptoms e.g tetanus.

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 Control and
prevention of
infections
 Health education
 Personal hygiene, hand washing, food
hygiene
 Immunization
 Passive immunization: antibody is given to
protect against infection. It produces instant
effect. No need for immunity to develop.
 Active Immunity- Vaccination:
 A part of a pathogen is given ( live, killed,
attenuated). Needs time for immunity to
develop
 Antimicrobial prophylaxis.
 Vector control- spraying with insecticides etc.

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 Laboratory diagnosis
of microbial
pathogens
 Collection of specimens
 Any tissue or body fluid can be obtained
from patients and subjected to
investigation. Specimens include blood,
urine, faeces, sputum, tissues, pus.
 Microscopy-
 light microscopy: wet mount, Gram stain, Zn
stain, silver stain etc.
 Fluorescence, dark field, electron microscopy
 Growth of microorganism,
 Tissue culture, Culture media, animal
inoculation.

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  Identification:
 Biochemical tests,
 serology (antigen – antibody reactions)
 DNA technology, Probes. Amplification
 Antimicrobial susceptibility testing
 To test for their likely response to
antibiotic therapy
 Bacterial typing
 To determine strains relatedness

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