Respiratory System – Microbiology
Course

Respiratory System – Microbiology

The microbes of the airways, from the common cold to tuberculosis — how each reaches the respiratory tract, the disease it causes, and how the laboratory identifies it.

Start lecture 01
5 lectures1 lab0 questions2 recordings
Lectures

One lecture, one lesson

  1. 01Lecture 01OpenAnimatedViral Respiratory Tract Infections (A): InfluenzaThe influenza virus taken apart — its eight RNA segments, HA and NA — then followed into an airway cell and out again; why it changes every winter and now and then turns into a pandemic; the disease it causes; and how we diagnose, treat and prevent it.37 slides~60 min
  2. 02Lecture 02OpenAnimatedViral Respiratory Tract Infections, Part B: Parainfluenza, RSV and Other Respiratory VirusesOne family, one winter, five coughs: parainfluenza and croup; respiratory syncytial virus, bronchiolitis and the antibodies that now protect babies; human metapneumovirus; adenovirus, tough without an envelope; the coronaviruses, from colds to SARS, MERS and COVID-19; and rhinovirus, the commonest cause of the common cold.37 slides~60 min
  3. 04Lecture 04OpenAnimatedBacterial Respiratory Tract Infections, Part A: Streptococcus pneumoniae and Bordetella pertussisOne house, two coughs: the pneumococcus, its capsule and how the laboratory recognises it; how it gets from the throat to the lung; lobar pneumonia, otitis media and their treatment; why only the conjugate vaccine protects babies; and Bordetella pertussis, its toxins, the three stages of whooping cough, and how to protect a newborn.41 slides~60 min
  4. 05Lecture 05OpenAnimatedBacterial Respiratory Tract Infections, Part B: Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Legionella pneumophilaTwo pneumonias whose Gram stain shows pus but no bacteria: Mycoplasma pneumoniae, which has no cell wall, grips the cilia and causes walking pneumonia and cold agglutinins; and Legionella pneumophila, which grows in warm water inside amoebae, lives inside macrophages, and causes Legionnaires’ disease and Pontiac fever.35 slides~60 min
  5. 07Lecture 07OpenAnimatedTuberculosisOne house, one bacillus: an acid-fast, slow-growing rod with a waxy mycolic-acid wall; spread by droplet nuclei; survival inside macrophages and the granuloma; primary TB, the Ghon complex and latent infection; reactivation, cavities and miliary spread; how active and latent TB are found (smear, PCR, culture, skin test, IGRA); the BCG vaccine; and treatment with four drugs.38 slides~60 min
Labs

The laboratory sessions

  1. Lab 01OpenAnimatedRespiratory Laboratory: Bacteria and FungiThe lab sheet, organism by organism: diphtheria, sputum, tuberculosis, Haemophilus influenzae and Bordetella pertussis, then Mycoplasma, Legionella, the fungi and RSV. For each, the specimen, the stain, the culture, the identifying test and the report.61 slides~120 min