Part 1 – Serodiagnosis of Infectious Disease

1. Define serum titer.

2. What are acute and convalescent sera? Why must both be tested to make a serological diagnosis of infectious disease?

3. What is the difference between an agglutination test and a precipitation test?

4. In a paired serum sample, what test results indicate recent infection?

5. What is a humoral antibody?

Part 2 – Culturing Microorganisms from the Environment

1. Why do microbiologists wear laboratory coats? Did you confirm that this is necessary?

2. Why is it necessary to wear clean, protective clothing when caring for a patient?

3. Why should hair be kept clean and out of the way when caring for patients?

4. How can the number of microorganisms in the environment be controlled?

5. When and why is hand washing important in patient care?

6. How can those who care for patients avoid spreading microorganisms among them?

Part 3 – Staphylococci

1. Differentiate the microscopic morphology of staphylococci and streptococci as seen by
Gram stain.

2. What are the two types of staphylococcal coagulase?

3. What is protein A? Describe one method of detecting it.

4. What properties of S. aureus distinguish it from S. epidermidis and S. saprophyticus?

5. Why are staphylococcal infections frequent among hospital patients?