Each article’s contents should be read, researched and understood, and you should then come to a decision on each question. The pass mark is 17 out of 20 questions answered correctly.
JBL exercises may be completed at any time until the published deadline date. Please select your choice of correct answers and complete the exercises online at: www.ibms.org/cpd/jbl
Deadline Wednesday 7 December 2017
Towards understanding clinical Campylobacter infection and its transmission: time for a different approach? Casey E, Fitzgerald E, Lucey B. Br J Biomed Sci 2017; 74 (2): 53–64. Assessment No: 090117
01 Wheeler et al. reported an asymptomatic carriage rate of 0.7% in their 1999 study.
02 Successful culture of C. rectus requires anaerobic conditions with a hydrogen concentration of at least 6%.
03 All species within genus Campylobacter have the same growth requirements.
04 Campylobacter ureolyticus was previously called Prevotella ureolyticus.
05 ISO10272-1:2006 recommends that food samples be enriched in Bolton broth prior to plating on the mCCDA.
06 European data show a consistent seasonality with peaks of infection occurring in Scandinavia before Wales and Scotland.
07 At the time of writing, there were 29 species in the genus Campylobacter.
08 A study by Fernádez-Cruz et al. showed more than four times as many cases of Campylobacter bacteraemia occurred in men compared to women.
09 The incubation period for campylobacteriosis is at least seven days.
10 In 2012 there was a higher incidence rate of campylobacteriosis in Wales than in Northern Ireland.
11 Guillain-Barré syndrome is an autoimmune disease that causes spastic paralysis.
12 The seasonality in Campylobacter incidence may be related to seasonal changes in host susceptibility.
13 The EFSA expert opinion assessment estimated that 50–80% of cases of campylobacteriosis were directly due to consumption of chicken meat.
14 A study from The Netherlands reported that by the age of 20 more than 95% of those tested had antibodies against thermophilic campylobacters.
15 Campylobacter volucris has been reported as a cause of meningitis.
16 Campylobacter spp. have been reported as being not able to multiply in foodstuffs at room temperature.
17 The Durban Protocol as far back as 1990 recommended the use of multiple media to detect Campylobacter species in samples.
18 In the Republic of Ireland the highest incidence rate by age group is seen in the 0–4 years population.
19 The authors’ hypothesis that as spiral bacteria such as Helicobacter, Borrelia and Treponema are known to persist for extended time periods in humans, it is plausible that at least some species of Campylobacter could persist well beyond acute symptoms.
20 Acke et al. used MLST to compare strains between household pets and human clinical cases.
Diagnosis of inherited bleeding disorders in the genomic era. Sivapalaratnam S, Collins J, Gomez K. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28612396 Br J Haematol 2017 Jun 14. doi: 10.1111/bjh.14796. Epub ahead of print (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bjh.14796/full). Assessment No: 090417
01 Assaying thromboxane B2 can detect abnormalities of arachidonic acid release or metabolism.
02 The female:male ratio of diagnosed platelet disorders is 3:1.
03 Isolated prolongation of the APTT suggests a factor VII deficiency.
04 Whilst there are more than 2000 known unique variants of the F8 gene, the majority of coagulation factor genes have fewer than 50 unique variants described.
05 Additional features associated with homozygous Pelger-Huet are epilepsy, skeletal abnormalities and neurological developmental delays.
06 GP1BA and GP9 are genes implicated in the GP receptor signalling of platelet function.
07 Thrombocytopenia and thrombocythemia can be associated with bleeding.
08 Mild alpha-2-antiplasmin deficiency is generally not associated with bleeding symptoms.
09 Up to April 2015, Bernard Soulier syndrome was the most commonly registered platelet disorder by UKHCDO.
10 Mucosal bleeding is more a characteristic of a platelet disorder than von Willebrand disease.
11 ThromboGenomics is a targeted next-generation sequencing panel not requiring clinical assessment or laboratory testing to identify which patients are likely to have an inheritable disorder.
12 The column that includes coagulation factor deficiencies and von Willebrand disease in Table 1 appears to be mislabelled.
13 A negative BAT score does not remove the need for laboratory assays.
14 Platelet function testing by light transmission aggregometry requires skilled biomedical scientists.
15 Copy number variants are relatively uncommon in the VWF gene.
16 The mode of inheritance of grey platelet syndrome is autosomal dominant.
17 Neutrophil inclusion bodies are indicative of Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome.
18 Monitoring for lung disease is required even in milder forms of Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome.
19 Glycoprotein VI deficiency is not associated with a bleeding tendency.
20 Bone abnormalities and behavioural disorders are recognised associations of some platelet disorders.
REFLECTIVE LEARNING
01 Using the information in Table 2, reflect on your laboratory’s methods for the cultivation of Campylobacter. When considering the case presented in the paper, would you recommend changes?
02 The VBNC state poses a problem to microbiologists, particularly in the food-testing sector. How would you explain this phenomenon to a trainee?
01 Discuss the limitations of bleeding assessment tools in the detection of bleeding disorders.
02 Discuss the limitations of laboratory screening tests in the detection of bleeding disorders.