WEEK 1 - MICROPARA

• MICROBIOLOGY - study of very small living organisms microorganisms or microbes
• PARASITOLOGY - study of parasites, protozoa, and helminths
• Opportunistic microbes (10%) - do not cause disease under ordinary conditions, but have the potential to cause disease should the opportunity present
• Pathogens (3%) - microbes that cause disease to host
• Beneficial microbes (87%) - benefits the host
• MAJOR GROUPS OF MICROORGANISM

  • Bacteria
  • Algae
  • Protozoa
  • Helminths
  • Fungi
• DIVISIONS OF MICROBIOLOGY

  • bacteriology - study of bacteria
  • phycology - algae
  • mycology - fungi
  • helminthology - parasitic worms
  • virology - viruses
  • protozoology - protozoa
• Medical microbiology is the study of pathogens, the diseases they cause and the body’s defenses against disease.
• Public health microbiology and epidemiology monitors and controls the spread of disease in communities, often through the National Epidemiology Center, a national center for disease prevention and control.
• Immunology is the study of the complex web of immune responses to infection by microorganisms, including the study of autoimmunity and hypersensitivity.
• Environmental microbiology or microbial ecology is the study of microbes in their natural habitats.
• Industrial or applied microbiology is the study of practical uses of microbes in food processing, industrial production, and biotechnology.
• Sanitary microbiology involves the processing and disposal of garbage and sewage wastes and the purification and processing of water supplies.
• Biotechnology involves processes in which humans use the metabolism of living things to arrive at a desired product.
• Agricultural microbiology deals with the relationships between microbes and crops, with an emphasis on improving yields and combating plant diseases.
• Food microbiology is the study of the microorganisms which inhabit, create or contaminate food.
• Veterinary microbiology is the study of the role of microbes in veterinary medicine or animal taxonomy, including the study of zoonotic diseases, which are diseases that can spread from animals to humans.
• Microbial physiology and genetics is the study of microbial growth, microbial metabolism and microbial cell structure, including how genes are organized and regulated in microbes in relation to their cellular functions.
• Genetic engineering and recombinant DNA technology are techniques that alter the genetics makeup of organisms to mass-produce certain products, create new substances, and develop unique organisms.
• SPECIALTY PROFESSIONS IN MICROBIOLOGY

  • Geomicrobiology - study of the role of microbes in earth's crust
  • Marine microbiology - oceans and its smallest inhabitants
  • Astromicrobiology - the potential for microbial life in space
• Opportunistic pathogens have the potential to cause infections if they gain access to a part of our body where they do not belong.
• Microbiology is essential for life.
• Microbiology is involved in the decomposition of dead organisms and waste products of living organisms, a process known as saprophytes or "decomposers", which are microorganisms that live on decaying organic matter.
• Bioremediation is a process where microbiology decomposes industrial waste.
• Microbiology is involved in elemental cycles such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, and phosphorus.
• Microbiology provides food for tiny animals such as algae and bacteria.
• Microscopic organisms in the ocean, collectively referred to as plankton, serve as the starting point of many food chains.
• Tiny marine plants and algae are called phytoplankton, whereas tiny marine animals are zooplankton.
• Microbiology aids in digestion, as E. coli produce Vit K and B1.
• Microbiology is essential in various food and beverage industries.
• Microbiology produces enzymes and antibiotics.
• Microbiology is essential in genetic engineering, with bacteria and yeast used in the production of insulin, growth hormone, interferons, and materials for vaccines.
• Microbiology is used as "cell models".
• Knowledge of disease causation and infectious disease results when a pathogen colonizes the body and subsequently causes a disease.
• Microbial intoxication results when a person ingests a toxin (poisonous substance) that has been produced by a microorganism.
• The presence of indigenous microflora, which are microbes that live on our body and are beneficial to humans, is significant in microbiology.
• RELEVANCE TO NURSING AND OTHER HEALTH PROFESSIONS

  • advantage in seeing specific vulnerabilities
  • know thy enemies
  • prevent spreading of pathogens