Page 167 - First Aid for the USMLE Step 1 2020, Thirtieth edition [MedicalBooksVN.com]_Neat

HIGH-YIELD PRINCIPLES IN

Microbiology

“Support bacteria. They’re the only culture some people have.” `Basic Bacteriology 124
—Steven Wright
`Clinical Bacteriology 134
“What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters
compared to what lies within us.” `Mycology 151
—Henry S. Haskins
`Parasitology 155
“Infectious disease is merely a disagreeable instance of a widely prevalent
tendency of all living creatures to save themselves the bother of building, `Virology 162
by their own efforts, the things they require.”
—Hans Zinsser `Systems 178

`Antimicrobials 187

Microbiology questions on the Step 1 exam often require two (or
more) steps: Given a certain clinical presentation, you will first need
to identify the most likely causative organism, and you will then need to
provide an answer regarding some features of that organism or relevant
antimicrobial agents. For example, a description of a child with fever
and a petechial rash will be followed by a question that reads, “From
what site does the responsible organism usually enter the blood?”

This section therefore presents organisms in two major ways: in
individual microbial “profiles” and in the context of the systems
they infect and the clinical presentations they produce. You should
become familiar with both formats. When reviewing the systems
approach, remind yourself of the features of each microbe by returning
to the individual profiles. Also be sure to memorize the laboratory
characteristics that allow you to identify microbes.

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