MOC - Clinical Microbiology
Infectious diseases organized by syndrome and body site — linking pathogens, specimens, and methods.
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Anatomy-first twin: MOC - Diseases by System
Overview
Clinical microbiology starts from the patient syndrome, chooses a specimen, and interprets lab results against Pathogen vs Normal Microbiota and pretest probability.
For deeper system pages (CNS, lung, GU…), use MOC - Diseases by System.
Key Syndromes (scaffold)
| Site / syndrome | System hub | Common pathogen examples | First-line methods |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bloodstream / sepsis | Bloodstream and Sepsis | S. aureus, Enterobacterales, Candida | Blood culture, Gram Stain, AST |
| Meningitis | CNS Infections | S. pneumoniae, N. meningitidis, H. influenzae | CSF Gram + culture, PCR panels |
| Pneumonia | Respiratory Infections | S. pneumoniae, K. pneumoniae, viruses | Sputum Gram/culture, urine Ag, PCR |
| UTI | Genitourinary Infections | E. coli, Klebsiella, Enterococcus | Urine culture + AST |
| Skin / soft tissue | Skin and Soft Tissue Infections | S. aureus, S. pyogenes | Culture, MRSA precautions |
| GI / colitis | Gastrointestinal Infections | Salmonella, STEC, C. difficile | Stool culture/NAAT, toxin assays |
| Device / biofilm | Device-Associated Infections | CoNS, S. aureus, Pseudomonas | Culture ± device sonication; see Biofilm |
| Endocarditis | Cardiovascular Infections | S. aureus, strep, Enterococcus | Blood cultures + echo |
| Bone / joint | Bone and Joint Infections | S. aureus | Synovial/bone culture |
| HEENT | HEENT Infections | GAS, pneumococcus | Throat/ear workup as indicated |
Core Concepts
Important Organisms
- See starter set on MOC - Bacteriology
Diagnostic and Lab Methods
Related MOCs
- MOC - Diseases by System
- MOC - Bacteriology · MOC - Virology · MOC - Mycology · MOC - Parasitology
- MOC - Antimicrobials · MOC - Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)
- MOC - Immunology · MOC - Fundamentals of Microbiology
- MOC - Public Health & Epidemiology
- Computational: MOC - Bioinformatics in Microbiology · MOC - AI in Microbiology — see Genotype to Phenotype Prediction · AI in Antimicrobial Stewardship · Model Evaluation in Clinical Microbiology
Build Status
| Cluster | Status |
|---|---|
| Syndrome table scaffold | done |
| Linked to Diseases-by-System hubs | done |
| Starter single-disease notes | done — see MOC - Diseases by System |