MICROBIOLOGY AND PARASITOLOGY
MICROBIOLOGY (THE SCIENCE)
GREEK PHYSICIAN HIPPOCRATES (460-370 BC)
TOPIC OUTLINE
1 ANCIENT IDEA OF MICROORGANISMS
2 DEBUNKING OF SPONTANEOUS
GENERATION
3 WHAT IS BIOLOGY?
4 WHAT IS MICROBIOLOGY?
5 WHY STUDY MICROBIOLOGY?
6 FIRST MICROORGANISMS ON EARTH
7 EARLIEST KNOWN INFECTIOUS
DISEASES
8 PIONEERS IN THE SCIENCE
OF MICROBIOLOGY
9 BRIEF HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY
10 BRIEF HISTORY : PANDEMICS
11 CAREERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
12 MICROBIOLOGY IN 21ST CENTURY
13 MICROBIOLOGY : SIGNIFICANCE IN
NURSING
14 MICROBIOLOGY : CLINICAL FOCUS
ANCIENT IDEA OF MICROORGANISMS
SPONTANEOUS GENERATION
➢ be traced back to the ancient Greeks and
was widely accepted through the Middle
Ages.
➢ refers to the previously popular thinking
that a living thing could arise or develop
from a non-living thing
➢ the notion that life can arise from
nonliving matter
GREEK PHILOSOPHER ARISTOTLE (384-322 BC)
➢ one of the earliest recorded scholars to
articulate the theory of spontaneous
generation
➢ proposed that life arose from nonliving
material if the material contained
pneuma (“vital heat”).
DEBUNKING OF SPONTANEOUS
GENERATION
Even before the invention of the
microscope, some doctors, philosophers,
and scientists made great strides in
understanding the invisible forces—what
we now know as microbes
➢ father of Western medicine”
➢ Unlike many of his ancestors and
contemporaries, he dismissed the idea
that disease was caused by supernatural
forces.
➢ Instead, he posited that diseases had
natural causes from within patients or
their environments.
➢ Hippocrates and his heirs are believed to
have written the Hippocratic Corpus.
➢ often credited as the author of the
Hippocratic Oath, taken by new
physicians to pledge their dedication to
diagnosing and treating patients without
causing harm.
GREEK PHILOSOPHER AND HISTORIAN
THUCYDIDES (460-395 BC)
➢ father of scientific history
➢ he advocated for evidence-based
analysis of cause-and-effect reasoning
➢ important contribution : his observations
regarding the Athenian plague that killed
one-third of the population of Athens
between 430 and 410 BC
➢ Having survived the epidemic himself,
Thucydides made the important
observation that survivors did not get re-
infected with the disease, even when
taking care of actively sick people.
➢ This observation shows an early
understanding of the concept of
immunity.
MARCUS TERENTIUS VARRO (116-27 BC)
➢ a prolific Roman writer
➢ one of the first people to propose the
concept that things we cannot see (what
we now call microorganisms) can cause
disease
➢ In Res Rusticae (On Farming), published
in 36 BC, he said that “precautions must
also be taken in neighborhood swamps. .
. because certain minute creatures
[animalia minuta] grow there which
cannot be seen by the eye, which float in
the air and enter the body through the
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mouth and nose and there cause serious THUCYDIDES
diseases.”
DEBUNKING OF SPONTANEOUS
GENERATION
microbes → cause infection, disease, and
death
Hippocratic → a collection of texts that
Corpus make up some of the oldest
surviving medical books.
Hippocratic → , taken by new physicians to
Oath pledge their dedication to
diagnosing and treating MARCUS VARRO
patients without causing harm.
Athenian → event that killed one-third of
plague the population of Athens
between 430 and 410 BC
Res Rusticae → book by Marcus Varro that
(On was published in 36 BC.
Farming)
animalia → minute creatures which
minuta grow on neighborhood swamps
that cannot be seen by the
naked eye and float in the air
→ enter the body thru mouth
and nose
ARISTOTLE EXPERIMENTATION BY FRANCESCO REDI (1626 –
1697)

➢ seventeenth century
➢ presented the first significant evidence
refuting spontaneous generation by
showing that flies must have access to
meat for maggots to develop on the meat.

HIPPOCRATES

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WHAT IS BIOLOGY? TWO MAJOR CATEGORIES OF MICROBES

WHAT IS BIOLOGY? TWO MAJOR CATEGORIES OF MICROBES

BIOLOGY 1 ACELLULAR MICROBES
→ study of living things 2 CELLULAR MICROBES
→ Viruses are included because they are alive
when inside the host cell.
MICROORGANISMS
→ aka. Microbes, germs
→ living things that are too small to be seen by
the unaided eye.
→ It wasn’t until the invention of the
microscope that their existence was
definitively confirmed.

WHAT IS MICROBIOLOGY?

MICROBIOLOGY
➢ A SCIENCE ACELLULAR MICROBES
➢ study of microbes/microorganisms
➢ Individual microbes can be observed only ➢ ”infectious particles”
with the use of various types of ➢ viruses and prions
microscopes.
➢ Micro – very small, —anything so small CELLULAR MICROBES
that it must be viewed with a microscope
➢ development of microbiology as a science ➢ ”microorganisms”
: allowed man to control harmful ➢ Include the less complex prokaryotes and
microbes and use others for his benefit. more complex eukaryotes
➢ all bacteria, all archaea, some algae, all
protozoa, and some fungi
MICROBIOLOGY
MICROBES → nonliving entities and living
MICROBES
organisms
PROKARYOTES
→ organisms composed of
→ ubiquitous, meaning they
cells that lack a true
are virtually everywhere
nucleus, such as archaea
MICROSCOPE → an optical instrument used
and bacteria
to observe very small objects
EUKARYOTES → organisms composed of
cells that contain a true
MICROORGANISMS
nucleus, such as algae,
➢ the foundation for all life on Earth
protozoa, and fungi
➢ Life on Earth started with early
PATHOGENS → microbes that cause
microorganisms
disease
➢ The activities of microorganisms are
→ ”infectious agents”
responsible for the survival of all other
→ only about 3% of known
organisms
microbes can cause
disease
ACTIVITIES INVOLVED BY MICROORGANISMS
NONPATHOGENS → microbes that do not
✓ Nitrogen
cause disease
✓ Oxygen
→ Some nonpathogens
✓ Molecular breakdown (putrefaction)
are beneficial to us,

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whereas others have no WHY STUDY MICROBIOLOGY?
effect on us at all. Indigenous → Microbes that live on and
microflora in the human body
WHY STUDY MICROBIOLOGY? (indigenous
microbiota)
➢ Although they are very small, microbes Opportunistic → do not cause disease under
play significant roles in our lives pathogens ordinary conditions but have
the potential to cause disease
REASONS WHY STUDY MICROBIOLOGY should the opportunity
1 We have, living on and in our bodies (e.g., present itself.
on our skin and in our mouths and Decomposers → break down dead and
intestinal tract), approximately 10 times or decaying organic material
as many microbes as the total number of saprophytes into inorganic nutrients in the
cells that make up our bodies known as soil
indigenous microflora Microbial → study of the relationships
2 Some of the microbes that colonize ecology between microbes and the
(inhabit) our bodies which we need to be environment
aware of known as opportunistic Plankton → Microscopic organisms in
pathogens the ocean
3 Microbes are essential for life on this Phytoplankton → tiny marine plants and
planet as we know it. algae
4 Many microbes are involved in the Zooplankton → tiny marine animals
decomposition of dead organisms and the Antibiotic → a substance produced by a
waste products of living organisms. microbe that is effective in
5 Some microbes are capable of killing or inhibiting the growth
decomposing industrial wastes (oil spills, of other microbes
for example).
6 Many microbes are involved in elemental TWO CATEGORIES OF DISEASES CAUSED BY
cycles, such as the carbon, nitrogen, PATHOGENS
oxygen, sulfur, and phosphorous cycles.
7 Algae and bacteria serve as food for tiny TWO CATEGORIES OF DISEASES CAUSED BY
animals. PATHOGENS
8 Some microbes live in the intestinal tracts 1 INFECTIOUS DISEASE
of animals, where they aid in the digestion 2 MICROBIAL INTOXICATION
of food and, in some cases, produce
substances that are of value to the host ➢ All infectious diseases and microbial
animal intoxications are caused by microbes.
9 Many microbes are essential in various
food and beverage industries, whereas
others are used to produce certain
enzymes and chemicals
10 Some bacteria and fungi produce
antibiotics that are used to treat patients
with infectious diseases
11 Microbes are essential in the field of
genetic engineering
12 For many years, microbes have been used
as “cell models.”
13 Microbes cause two categories of
diseases: infectious diseases and
microbial intoxications

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INFECTIOUS DISEASE
➢ results when a pathogen colonizes the
body and subsequently causes disease
➢ cause far more illnesses and deaths.
Infectious diseases are the leading cause
of death in the world
OF MICROBIOLOGY
1 Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723)
2 Louis Pasteur (1822–1895)
3 Robert Koch (1843–1910)
Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723)

MICROBIAL INTOXICATION

➢ results when a person ingests a toxin

(poisonous substance) that has been
produced by a microbe

FIRST MICROORGANISMS ON EARTH

➢ for the first 800 million to 1 billion years of

Earth’s existence, there was no life on this
planet
➢ Candidates for the first microbes on Earth
are archaea and cyanobacteria ➢ ”Father of Microbiology, Father of
Bacteriology, Father of Protozoology
➢ the first person to see live bacteria and
EARLIEST KNOWN INFECTIOUS protozoa
DISEASES ➢ In many of these specimens, he observed
various tiny living creatures, which he
➢ By studying mummies, scientists have called animalcules.
learned that bacterial diseases, such as
tuberculosis and syphilis, and parasitic Louis Pasteur (1822–1895)
worm infections, such as
schistosomiasis, dracunculiasis (guinea
worm infection), and tapeworm
infections, have been around for a very
long time.

EGYPT PESTILENCE IN 3180 BC

➢ first recorded epidemic

SYPHILIS
➢ first appearance in Europe in 1493
➢ French : Neopolitan disease
➢ Italians : French or Spanish disease
➢ English : French pox
➢ Other names : Spanish, German, Polish
and Turkish pocks ➢ a French chemist
➢ given the name syphilis in 1530 ➢ made numerous contributions to the
newly emerging field of microbiology

PIONEERS IN THE SCIENCE LOUIS PASTEUR CONTRIBUTIONS

OF MICROBIOLOGY ✓ Pasteur discovered what occurs during
alcoholic fermentation
PIONEERS IN THE SCIENCE

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✓ Through his experiments, Pasteur dealt ✓ Koch developed methods of fixing,
the fatal blow to the theory of staining, and photographing bacteria.
spontaneous generation. ✓ Koch developed methods of cultivating
✓ Pasteur discovered forms of life that bacteria on solid media.
could exist in the absence of oxygen ✓ Koch discovered the bacterium (M.
(introduced terms aerobes and tuberculosis) that causes tuberculosis and
anaerobes). the bacterium (Vibrio cholerae) that
✓ Pasteur developed the process called causes cholera.
pasteurization - an economic concern to ✓ Koch’s work on tuberculin ultimately led
France’s wine industry. to the development of a skin
✓ Pasteur discovered the infectious agents test valuable in diagnosing tuberculosis.
that caused the silkworm diseases that
were crippling the silk industry in France. PIONEERS IN THE SCIENCE
✓ Pasteur made significant contributions to OF MICROBIOLOGY
the germ theory of disease Theory of → the idea that life can arise
✓ Pasteur championed changes in hospital spontaneous spontaneously from nonliving
practices to minimize the spread of generation or material
disease by pathogens. abiogenesis
✓ Pasteur developed vaccines to prevent Biogenesis → life can only arise from
chicken cholera, anthrax, and swine preexisting life
erysipelas (a skin disease). → proposed by Rudolf
✓ Pasteur developed a vaccine to prevent Virchow in 1858
rabies in dogs and successfully used the Pasteurization → a process to kill microbes
vaccine to treat human rabies that were causing wine to
spoil
Robert Koch (1843–1910) Acetobacter → convert glucose to acetic
acid (vinegar) by
fermentation, thus, ruining the
taste of the wine
Anthrax → caused by a specific
bacterium (Bacillus
anthracis)
Tuberculosis → caused by a different
bacterium (Mycobacterium
tuberculosis)
Pure culture → a condition in which only
one type of organism is
growing on a solid culture
medium or in a liquid culture
medium in the laboratory; no
other types of organisms are
present.
➢ a German physician Tuberculin → a protein derived from M.
tuberculosis
ROBERT KOCH CONTRIBUTIONS
✓ He proved that the anthrax bacillus (B.
anthracis), was truly the cause of
anthrax.
✓ Koch discovered that B. anthracis
produces spores, capable of resisting
adverse conditions

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BRIEF HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY 1847 → Ignatz Semmelweiss pioneered hand
washing
BRIEF HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY
1674 → Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek
discovered microorganisms

Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek

➢ A merchant who had optics
for a hobby.
➢ He was able to view small
objects with the lens he
developed. 1859 → Louis Pasteur, a French chemist,
➢ He reported what he disproved spontaneous generation of
observed as ”animacules” microorganisms (Germ Theory).
to the Royal Academy of
Science. → He showed that individual microbial
➢ Unfortunately, he did not strains had unique properties and
share his secret technique demonstrated that fermentation is
of lens making. caused by microorganisms.

→ He also invented pasteurization.

1796 → John Jenner created a vaccine for
smallpox PASTEURIZATION
- a process used to kill
microorganisms
responsible for spoilage,
and developed vaccines for
the treatment of diseases,
including rabies, in animals
and humans.

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1892 → Dmitri Iwanoski discovered Tobacco
1865 → Joseph Lister introduced antiseptic Mosaic Virus.
techniques

1894 → Paul Ehrlich articulated the principle

of selective toxicity.

1876 → Robert Koch, a German physician,

proved that specific microbes cause
specific disease (Koch’s Postulate)

→ He was the first to demonstrate the

connection between a single, isolated
microbe and a known human disease.

EXAMPLES OF KOCH’S DISCOVERIES

Bacteria that cause :
✓ anthrax (Bacillus anthracis)
✓ cholera (Vibrio cholera)
✓ tuberculosis (Mycobacterium
tuberculosis)

1929 → Alexander Fleming discovered

penicillin.
KOCH’S POSTULATE

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1928 → Griffith discovers genetic ➢ Plague of Justinian or Justinianic Plague
transformation in bacteria. (541–549 AD)
1944 → Avery, McLeod, and McCarty ➢ the beginning of the first plague
demonstrated DNA. pandemic, the first Old World pandemic
1953 → Watson, Crick, Franklin and Wilkins of plague, the contagious disease caused
determined DNA structure. by the bacterium Yersinia pestis.
1971 → Diener demonstrated the ➢ The disease afflicted countries as follows
fundamental difference between viroids
and viruses. COUNTRIES AFFLICTED BY THE PLAGUE
1973 → Boyer and Cohen cloned DNA. ✓ Entire Mediterranean Basin
1977 → Woese, et al. classified all organisms ✓ Europe
into three domains. ✓ Near East, severely affecting the Sasanian
1980 → WHO declared eradication of Empire and the Byzantine Empire and
smallpox in the world. especially its capital, Constantinople.
1982 → Prusiner discovered the prion.
➢ The plague is named for the Byzantine
→ Marshall discovered H. pylori. emperor in Constantinople, Justinian I
1983 → Montagnier and Gallo isolated and
described HIV. 1346–1353: Black Death
2001 → Bioterrorism was waged in US.

BRIEF HISTORY : PANDEMICS

➢ More people died of diseases caused by

microorganisms

DISEASES INVOLVED
✓ Influenza
✓ Smallpox
✓ Plague

➢ AIDS
➢ COVID-19
➢ also known as the Pestilence, the Great
➢ Modern sanitation, vaccination, and
Mortality or the Plague
antibiotics greatly reduced the incidence
➢ was a bubonic plague pandemic
occurring in Afro-Eurasia
541–549: Plague of Justinian
➢ It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in
human history, causing the death of 75–
200 million people in Eurasia and North
Africa, peaking in Europe from 1347 to
1351.

1918 influenza pandemic – also known as

The Spanish flu

➢ Influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1

influenza A virus.
➢ Lasting from February 1918 to April 1920,
it infected 500 million people – about a
third of the world's population at the time
– in four successive waves.

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➢ The death toll is typically estimated to 2019–present: Corona Virus
have been somewhere between 20
million and 50 million, although estimates
range from a conservative 17 million to a
possible high of 100 million, making it one
of the deadliest pandemics in human
history

CAREERS IN MICROBIOLOGY

CAREERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
microbiologist → a scientist who studies
1981–present: HIV/AIDS pandemic microbes
bacteriologist → a scientist who specializes
in bacteriology
bacteriology → the study of the structure,
functions, and activities of
bacteria
phycologists → specializing in the field of
(or algologists) phycology (or algology) study
the various types of algae
Protozoologists → explore the area of
protozoology
protozoology → the study of protozoa and
their activities
Virology → encompasses the study of
➢ HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, has viruses and their effects on
become one of the world”s most serious living cells of all types.
health and development challenges
applied → how a knowledge of
since the first cases were reported in 1981.
microbiology microbiology can be applied
➢ Approximately 76 million people have
to different aspects of society,
become infected with HIV since the start
medicine, and industry.
of the epidemic.
Medical → involves the study of
➢ Today, there are approximately 38
microbiology pathogens, the diseases they
million people currently living with HIV,
cause, and the body’s
and tens of millions of people have died of
defenses against disease
AIDS-related causes since the beginning
clinical → branch of medical
of the epidemic.
microbiology microbiology
or diagnostic → concerned with the
microbiology laboratory diagnosis of
infectious diseases of
humans.

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Phycology → study of algae between the causative organism of
Mycology → study of fungi disease and patient’s normal flora.
Parasitology → study of parasites and is 5 A nurse must know procedures used to
limited to studying create and maintain a sterile field in the
arthropods, helminths, and hospitals based on the knowledge of
certain protozoa. microbiology
6 The principles of asepsis are also based on
microbiology.
MICROBIOLOGY IN 21ST CENTURY 7 The proper disposal of biomedical waste is
equally important, and knowledge of
FIELDS microbiology helps in this field also.
1 Medical / Clinical 8 The nurse must recognize the importance
2 Parasitological of the proper collection of specimens to be
3 Sanitation sent for bacteriological examination to
4 Industrial obtain accurate results.
5 Environmental 9 One of the most important things is hand
6 Genetics washing which helps in reducing surgical
7 Physiological infections and transmission of diseases in
8 Paleomicrobiology hospitals.
9 Agricultural 10 Nurses also play an important role in
10 Veterinary immunization to control threats of various
diseases.
11 She/he follows not only aseptic techniques
MICROBIOLOGY : SIGNIFICANCE IN but also uses sterile equipment while
NURSING looking after such patients.
12 It is the duty of a nurse to ensure that the
atmosphere of the operation theatre is
free of microorganisms.
13 The nurse can play a role while the female
needs antenatal care, help during delivery
or after giving birth for six weeks called as
puerperium.
14 A nurse must have sound knowledge of the
sterilization methods and controls of
sterilization so that good quality could be
maintained while providing nursing care.

MICROBIOLOGY : CLINICAL FOCUS

SIGNIFICANCE IN NURSING
1 All surfaces of the human body are
populated with microorganisms (10X the
number of body cells)
2 Knowledge of microbiology helps a nurse
in every field of health care.
3 Nurses should have known about the
mode of spread of infection. This
knowledge would help a nurse to look for
specific control of the spread of infection.
4 Knowledge of medical microbiology would
help them to understand the difference
CLINICAL FOCUS
1 A patient has recently been experiencing
severe headaches, a high fever, and a stiff
neck. Patient also seems confused at times
and unusually drowsy.
Based on these symptoms, the doctor
suspects that the patient may have
meningitis, a potentially life-
threatening infection of the tissue that
surrounds the brain and spinal cord.

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*Meningitis sufficient quantities to be detected and
• has several potential causes. analyzed.
• It can be brought on by
bacteria, fungi, viruses, or even
a reaction to medication or
exposure to heavy metals.

2 The doctor orders a lumbar puncture

(spinal tap) to take three samples of
cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from around the
spinal cord.

The samples will be sent to laboratories in

three different departments for testing:
clinical chemistry, microbiology, and
hematology.

STEPS
✓ The samples will first be visually
examined to determine whether
the CSF is abnormally colored or
cloudy
✓ then the CSF will be examined
under a microscope to see if it
contains a normal number of red
and white blood cells and to check
for any abnormal cell types.

In the microbiology lab, the specimen

will be centrifuged to concentrate any
cells in a sediment; this sediment will be
smeared on a slide and stained with a
Gram stain.

*Gram staining
• a procedure used to
differentiate between two
different types of bacteria
(gram-positive and gram-
negative).

The Gram stain did not show any

bacteria, but the doctor decides to
prescribe her antibiotics just in case.

Part of the CSF sample will be cultured—

put in special dishes to see if bacteria or
fungi will grow.
*It takes some time for most
microorganisms to reproduce in

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