Waxy & We Know It
Worm Your Way Out of This
Streaking for Answers
Yeast Mode
Going Viral
Breaking Bad Bugs
Final Jeopardy
100
What is the definition of scotochromogenic mycobacteria?
Develop yellow or orange pigment in the dark or after exposure to light
100
This wet mount is from a liver aspirate. What is the identification of this organism?
Echinococcus (hooklets)
100
Lung biopsy obtained from a renal transplant patient with chronic cough and a ring‑enhancing brain lesion—what organism is the most likely cause?
Nocardia - branching, filamentous, partially acid-fast Gram-positive rods
100
Which species of mould are lipophilic and may need an olive oil overlay on the culture media to help it grow?
Malassezia species
100
Which respiratory virus is a DNA virus?
Adenovirus
100
Name the following antimicrobial susceptibility testing methods
(have to get all 3 right for 100 points)
Answer: A. disk diffusion; B. gradient diffusion; C. broth microdilution
200
What is the most common acid-fast bacteria found as laboratory/environmental contaminant?
M. gordonae
200
29 yo female immigrant from Ecuador presenting with a skin lesion of the outer thigh which appeared 3 months ago. What is the organism (genus level)?
Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis species complex
200
This medium selects for Nesseria species from other normal microbiota.
Thayer Martin (or Modified Thayer Martin)
200
A renal patient with fever, cough, and erythema nodosum after travel to the Southern California has a fungal culture from BAL examined with lactophenol cotton blue—what is the organism being shown?
Coccidioides (barrel‑shaped arthroconidia separated by empty disjunctor cells)
200
What is the possible interpretation of the Hepatitis B testing results shown here?
Chronic HBV infection
200
________ has broad-spectrum anaerobic activity with the least resistance
Metronidazole
300
What is the optimal growth temperature of M. marinum?
30 C
300
Which Plasmodium species causes a milder infection compared to others?
P. ovale
300
A 55‑year‑old man develops rapidly progressive cellulitis and severe pain of the hand within 24 hours of a bite wound; cultures grow a small, oxidase‑positive, gram‑negative coccobacillus—what organism is most likely responsible?
Pasteurella multocida
300
A 55‑year‑old woman presents with thickened, yellow, brittle toenails without scalp involvement; KOH preparation shows septate hyphae, and fungal culture reveals club‑shaped macroconidia with no microconidia—what organism is the most likely cause?
Epidermophyton floccosum
300
At what point in the CDC HIV testing algorithm is NAAT testing recommended?
When HIV-1 vs HIV-2 antibody differentiation immunoassay results are indeterminate.
300
What is the mechanism of resistace in this E. coli?
Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)
400
Which NTM is highly antibiotic-resistant and most commonly associated with surgical infections following cosmetic procedures?
M. abscessus
400
28yo male from Mauritania with gross hematuria, mild eosinophilia, and calcified bladder. What is the cause of his symptoms (genus & species)?
Schistosoma haematobium
400
A stool specimen is positive for Campylobacter spp. by the multiplex PCR GI panel. Under which incubation conditions should the laboratory culture the organism for optimal growth?
42°C in a microaerophilic environment
400
You see colonies growing on CGB agar and see this on an India-ink stain. Name this organisms (genus and species).
Cryptococcus gattii
400
List out different components of 4th generation HIV testing.
4th Generation: 3rd Gen assay design + HIV-1 p24 Ag detection
• Detects HIV-1 (Groups M and O), and HIV-2 IgG and IgM antibody
• Detects HIV-1 p24 antigen to detect infection about 7 days earlier than third-generation tests
400
Name the ‘Big five’ carbapenemases accounting for >97% of Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE).
KPC, OXA-48, IMP, VIM, and NDM
500
A skin biopsy from an immunocompromised patient grows acid‑fast bacilli only at 30–32°C on media supplemented with hemin or ferric ammonium citrate—what organism is most likely responsible?
M. haemophilum
500
What is the primary vector for transmission of this disease caused by the parasite seen in this blood smear?
Deer tick; Ixodes scapularis
500
What testing do we do to R/O Brucella and what results would you expect for Brucella? (Gram stain and 3 Biochemicals)
Gram stain: small GNCB
Catalase positive, Oxidase positive, Urease positive
500
A mold with colony morphology similar to Aspergillus fumigatus demonstrates poor growth at ≥45°C and shows resistance to both azoles and amphotericin B—what organism is most likely responsible?
Aspergillus lentulus
500
A 28‑year‑old woman undergoing pre‑transplant evaluation is asymptomatic; EBV serologies show VCA IgG positive, EBNA positive, and VCA IgM negative—what does this serologic pattern indicate?
Past EBV infection
500
Erythromycin and clindamycin disks placed adjacent on Mueller–Hinton agar inoculated with Staphylococcus aureus. Can you explain this finding?
Positive D-test – erythromycin induces erm‑mediated clindamycin resistance
500
A 40M presented to the hospital with abdominal pain and SOB, which progressed to fulminant sepsis and DIC. The patient lives with his partner and their dog. From the PMH, he has ITP and therapeutic splenectomy. Blood cx are positive for a slow‑growing, oxidase‑ and catalase‑positive thin gram‑negative rod. Colonies show a characteristic gliding motility. Organism?
Capnocytophaga canimorsus