Jock itch (also known as tinea cruris) is a common fungal infection that affects the skin of the inner thighs, buttocks and genitals. The fungus that causes jock itch thrives in warm, moist areas. As a result, it causes an itchy, red, often ring-shaped rash in these warm, moist areas of the body.

Jock itch (tinea cruris) is a surface (superficial) fungal infection of the skin on either side of the body where the thigh joins the abdomen, known as the groin. It is often spread to the groin from tinea infection on the feet (tinea pedis or athlete’s feet).

Jock Itch Causes

Jock itch is caused by a fungus that lives on your skin. The name of the fungus is Tinea cruris, and is related to the athlete’s foot fungus. Jocks aren’t the only ones who get jock itch – men who sweat a lot can also get it, and sometimes women too. This fungus likes to grow and live in the warm, moist parts of the genital area, particularly the insides of the thighs. The rash makes the area itch, causes the skin to become red and sometimes crack or peel.

Jock itch is caused by a fungus, often the same one that causes athlete’s foot. Sometimes it is transferred by a towel used to dry the feet and then the groin area.

Jock Itch Symptoms

The acute infection begins with an itchy area of redness about a half-inch across. The area may enlarge, and other sores may develop in no particular pattern. The rash appears as raised red plaques (platelike areas) with sharp borders. The border may exhibit tiny pimples or even pustules with central areas that are reddish and dry with small scales.

Jock Itch Diagnosis

The best way to diagnose tinea cruris is to look for hyphae under the microscope, a KOH test. The skin is scraped with a scalpel or glass slide causing dead skin cells to fall off onto a glass slide. A few drops of Potassium hydroxide (KOH) are added to the slide and the slide is heated for a short time. The KOH dissolves the material binding the skin cells together releasing the hyphae, but it does not distort the cell or the hyphae. Special stains such as Chlorazol Fungal Stain, Swartz Lamkins Fungal Stain, or Parker’s blue ink can be used to help visualize the hyphae better.

Jock Itch Treatment

1. Wash the rash with soap and water. Gently remove any pieces of dried skin, and spread an antifungal cream over the rash. Apply the cream beyond the edge of the rash.

2. Jock itch is treated with one of two types of antifungal medications — azoles or allylamines. Generally, allylamines require a shorter treatment time, while azoles are less expensive but require longer treatment time.

3. For a mild case of jock itch, your doctor may suggest first using an over-the-counter antifungal ointment, lotion, powder or spray.

4. If you have jock itch and athlete’s foot, you should treat both to prevent re-infecting your groin when you put on your underwear.

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STAINING METHODS IN MICROBIOLOGY

Simple Stains
They are also referred as monochrome stains, since only one dye is employed for the colouration of bacterial smear (The act of taking bacteria taken from a lesion or area, spreading them on a slide, and staining them for microscopic examination.). The surface of a bacterial cell has an overall acidic characteristic because of large amount of carboxyl groups located on the cell surface de to acidic amino acids. Therefore, when ionization of carboxyl groups takes place it imparts negative charge to the cell surface as per the following equation.

COOH → COO- + H+

H+ is removed and the surface of the bacteria becomes  negatively charged and a positively charged dye like (methylene blue) attaches to the negatively surface and gives it a coloured appearance.

Methylene blue chloride →  Methylene Blue++ Cl‑

Negative Stains
Negative staining is a technique (used mainly in electron microscopy) by which bacterial cells are not stained, but are made visible against dark background. 
Acidic dyes like eosin and nigrosin are employed for this method. Though, this staining technique is not very popular, it has an advantage over the direct or positive staining methods for the study of morphology of cells. This is because of the fact that the cells do not receive vigorous physical or chemical treatments.

The colouring power of acidic dye e.g. eosin in sodium eosinate is having negative charge, therefore, it does not combine with the negatively charged bacterial cell surface. On the other hand, it forms a deposit around the cell, resulting into appearance of bacterial cell colourless against dark background.  Some suitable negative stains include ammonium molybdate, uranyl acetate, uranyl formate, phosphotungstic acid, osmium tetroxide, osmium ferricyanide and auroglucothionate. These have been chosen because they scatter electrons well and also adsorb to biological matter well. The method is used to view viruses, bacteria, bacterial flagella, biological membrane structures and proteins or protein aggregates, which all have a low electron-scattering power.

Differential Stains
Staining procedure which differentiates or distinguishes between types of bacteria is termed as differential staining technique. Methods for simple staining impart same colour to all bacteria and other biological material, may be slight variation in shade. On the other hand, differential staining methods impart distinctive colour only to certain types of bacteria.

The basic principle underlying this differentiation is due to the different chemical and physical properties of cell and as a result, they react differently with the staining reagents. Differential staining procedure utilizes more than one stain. In some techniques the stains are applied separately, while in other as combination. There are two most important differential stains, namely, (A) Gram stain and (B) Acid-fast stain.

(A) Gram Stain

Gram stain is one of the most important and widely used differential stains. It has great taxonomic significance and is often the first step in the identification of an unknown prokaryotic organism. This technique divides bacteria into two groups (i) Gram positive those which retain primary dye like crystal violet and appear deep violet in colour and (ii) Gram negative, which lose the primary dye on application of decolourizer and take the colour of counterstain like safranin or basic fuchsin.

Gram-positive bacteria have a thick mesh-like cell wall made of peptidoglycan (50-90% of cell wall), which stains purple while gram-negative bacteria have a thinner layer (10% of cell wall), which stains pink. Gram-negative bacteria also have an additional outer membrane which contains lipids. There are four basic steps of the Gram stain, which include applying a primary stain (crystal violet) to a heat-fixed smear of a bacterial culture, followed by the addition of a trapping agent (Gram’s iodine), rapid decolorization with alcohol or acetone, and counterstaining with safranin. Basic fuchsin is sometimes substituted for safranin since it will more intensely stain anaerobic bacteria but it is much less commonly employed as a counterstain.

Crystal violet (CV) dissociates in aqueous solutions into CV+ and chloride (Cl – ) ions. These ions penetrate through the cell wall and cell membrane of both gram-positive and gram-negative cells. The CV+ ion interacts with negatively charged components of bacterial cells and stains the cells purple.

Iodine (I – or I3 – ) interacts with CV+ and forms large complexes of crystal violet and iodine (CV–I) within the inner and outer layers of the cell. Iodine is often referred to as a mordant, but is a trapping agent that prevents the removal of the CV-I complex and therefore color the cell.

When a decolorizer such as alcohol or acetone is added, it interacts with the lipids of the cell membrane. A gram-negative cell will lose its outer membrane and the lipopolysaccharide layer is left exposed. The CV–I complexes are washed from the gram-negative cell along with the outer membrane. In contrast, a gram-positive cell becomes dehydrated from an ethanol treatment. The large CV–I complexes become trapped within the gram-positive cell due to the multilayered nature of its peptidoglycan. After decolorization, the gram-positive cell remains purple and the gram-negative cell loses its purple color. Counterstain, which is usually positively charged safranin or basic fuchsin, is applied last to give decolorized gram-negative bacteria a pink or red color.

Acid Fast Stains
Acid fast staining is another widely used differential stain­ing procedure in bacteriology. This stain was developed by Paul Ehrlich in 1882, during his work on etiology of tuber culosis (5). Some bacteria resist decolourization by both acid and alcohol and hence they are referred as acid-fast organisms. Acid alcohol is very intensive decolourizer. This staining technique divides bacteria into two groups (i) acid-fast and (ii) non acid-fast. This procedure is extensively used in the diagnosis of tuberculosis and leprosy.

Acid-fastness property in certain Mycobacteria and some species of Nocardia is correlated with their high lipid content. Due to high lipid content of cell wall, in some cases 60% (w/w), acid-fast cells have relatively low permeability to dye and hence it is difficult to stain them. For the staining of these bacteria, penetration of primary dye is facilitated with the use of 5% aqueous phenol which acts as a chemical intensifier. In addition, heat is also applied which acts as a physical intensifier. Once these cells are stained, it is difficult to decolourize
Ziehl-Neelsen method:
Ziehl (6) and Neelsen (7) independently proposed acid fast stain, in 1882-1883 is commonly used today. The staining reagents are much more stable than those described by Ehrlich.
The procedure for staining is as follows. Prepare a smear and fix it by gentle heat. Flood the smear with carbol fuchsin (S19) and heat the slide from below till steam rise for 5 minutes.
Do not boil and ensure that stain does not dry out. Allow the’ slide to cool for 5 minutes to prevent the breakage of slide in the subsequent prevent step. Wash well with water. Decolourize the smear till red colour no longer comes out in 20% sulphuric acid. Wash with water. Counterstain with 1% aqueous solution of malachite green or Loeffler’s methylene blue (S18) for 15-20 seconds. Wash, blot dry and examine under oil-immersion objective
Endospore staining

Bacterial endosporesare metabolically inactive, highly resistant structures produced by some bacteria as a defensive strategy against unfavorable environmental conditions.  The bacteria can remain in this suspended state until conditions become favorable and they can germinate and return to their vegetative state.  The primary stain applied is malachite green, which stains both vegetative cells and endospores.  Heatis applied to help the primary stain penetrate the endospore.    The cells are then decolorized with water, which removes the malachite green from the vegetative cell but not the endospore.  Safraninis then applied to counterstainany cells which have been decolorized.  At the end of the staining process, vegetative cells will be pink, and endospores will be dark green.

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Causes and prevention of vaginal yeast infections

Candida albicans is the scientific name for this annoying disease–health care providers often simply call it Candida (pronounced Can-dee-duh). It’s caused by a microscopic plant similar to the yeast plants that make bread rise and grapes turn into wine. There are tiny yeast spores of various kinds living harmlessly nearly everywhere, including in our bodies. They only become a problem when they grow out of control.

SYMPTOMS INCLUDE

ITCHING (a lot) (real bad) between the legs. It affects the vulva (the outside female parts that Mr. Rogers fails to notice when he sings girls are fancy on the inside), the vagina (the inside sexual organ leading to the uterus), and sometimes the opening to the rectum. These tender areas quickly become reddened and irritated, even if you can resist the urge to rub the itch. It can drive you nuts.

The itching caused by a yeast infection is fairly continual, and, untreated, usually gets worse. There’s sometimes a bit of relief after urinating because the irritating little yeast plants are washed and wiped away–until more grow.

If you notice itching between your legs only at night and mostly toward the back, it’s more likely pinworms in the rectum causing the problem.

WHITE DISCHARGE from the vagina (sometimes a lot of discharge) that is has little bits of solid material–like little teeny clumps of wet cotton is typical of vaginal yeast infection

.

ODOR, Usually there’s not a really awful infected smell to yeast infections, but it smells quite different from normal woman smell. This is often described as a yeasty odor, but I fail to identify the smell of a yeast infection with fresh-baked bread or nicely-aged wine.

SIMILAR PROBLEMS THAT AREN’T YEAST INFECTIONS

Other microscopic organisms can cause vaginal itching, irritation and discharge. These are less common than simple yeast infections, but it’s useful to recognize the differences.

If you have a vaginal discharge that is yellowish-green and slimy, it isn’t a yeast infection–it could well be a disease called Trichomonas vaginalis (or Trich–pronounced trick) that is usually (though not always) sexually transmitted.

It’s caused by a one-celled microscopic creature (a protozoa) that commonly lives in our rectums–that’s one reason little girls should always be taught to wipe from front to back when they use the toilet.

I once got a Trich infection after a severe bout of diarrhea–apparently a tiny bit of fecal matter splashed into the wrong area, and infected my vagina. It was nasty. A doctor gave me antibiotics, which quickly cleared it up. I don’t know what long-term effect the antibiotics had on my health, though. That was years ago, and it didn’t occur to me to seek other more natural solutions.

Vaginal infections caused by bacteria–like the common sexually- transmitted disease Gardnerella–can cause some itching and irritation of the vulva & surrounding area but usually have a nasty smelling discharge too.

Sometimes bacterial infections in the uterus or in tiny glands in the vulva may cause irritation and a foul-smelling discharge.

As a general rule, if your vaginal discharge develops a foul odor, you should see a family nurse practicioner or doctor. If you have a fever andor pain in the pelvic region, you need to see someone quickly. If you have recently given birth or had a miscarriage or abortion and have a fever plus bad-smelling discharge, see a health care provider immediately. Annoying bacterial infections in the vaginal area can become serious, even life-threatening infections if they migrate up into the uterus or into the bladder.

WHAT CAUSES VAGINAL YEAST INFECTIONS

Normally, as mentioned, there are a few little yeast plants hanging around harmlessly in our bodies. It becomes a yeast infection when they grow and multiply excessively.

Three things can make women especially susceptable to vaginal yeast infections

#1. PREGNANCY–The internal sexual organs of women are usually moist and mildly acid (like orange juice). The excessive growth of yeast organisms is normally suppressed in an acid environment. During pregnancy, our bodies tend to be less acidic–to be more alkaline (like baking soda). This is probably good for the growing embryofetusbaby (the amniotic fluid or waters surrounding the unborn baby are very alkaline), but it can cause a problem for the pregnant woman who finds that she is now more susceptable to yeast infections.

#2. TAKING ANTIBIOTICS–As previously noted, normally a few yeast organisms live harmlessly in our bodies. There are also bacteria that normally live in our bodies–some are simply harmless, and others are actually essential to our health.

These little yeasts and bacterias live in the same territory of our bodies, generally in balance with one another. When antibiotics kill off the bacteria, the yeast may then take over, causing a yeast infection.

#3. SEXUAL INTERCOURSE–Semen is usually much more alkaline than vaginal fluids, favoring the growth of yeast. Too, the rubbing on internal tissues during sex may cause irritated spots that are vulnerable to infection. Birth control devices with spermicide (diaphrams, sponges, suppositories, foam) can cause irritation, and some prophylactics (rubbers) are coated with potentially irritating substances.

6 WAYS TO PREVENT VAGINAL YEAST INFECTIONS

1. Wear cotton underwear or panties with an absorbent cotton crotch. Better yet, wear skirts with no underwear, at least around the house–letting the area between your legs stay aired-out helps prevent yeast growth.

2. Don’t use fabric softener on underwear–use a cup of vinegar in the rinse cycle instead. Fabric softener dryer sheets should also be avoided.

3. Use unscented toilet paper–The added scent can cause irritation, and it doesn’t make you smell any better.

4. Clean yourself after intercourse. Douching is NOT recommended–it can cause dangerous infections by washing bacteria up into the uterus.

The easiest, safest way to clean alkaline semen out of the vagina is to use home-made vinegar swabs. Simply wrap a bit of toilet paper, paper towel, or thin cloth around a finger. Dip this swab into a solution of 1 Tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice and 12 cup of water. Insert your wrapped finger into the vagina as deeply as you can and wipe the inside with a circular motion.

If you are using a diaphram or sponge for birth control, be careful not to dislodge it. Don’t use a vaginal swab if you’re depending on foam or suppositories for birth control.

5. If you must take antibiotics, plain yogurt can help keep your vaginal tissues healthy. Twice a day take about 12 teaspoon of unflavored yogurt on your fingertip and slide it up into your vagina. It’s best to lie down for a few minutes afterwards to let the yogurt settle and spread around some. Be sure to get yogurt that says active cultures on the label. These are living cells that help prevent excessive yeast growth. When you are done taking antibiotics, eat at least a cup of yogurt with active cultures every day for a week to help your body recover its natural balance.

6. Avoid sugars–white sugar, brown sugar, dextrose, sucrose, lactose, fructose, etc. Yeast thrives and multiplies on sugar.

Learn to read labels–it’s amazing how many processed foods

contain sugar. For instance, most canned chili has added sugar. Catsup is mostly sugar. There’s sugar in most salad dressings, tomato soup, pizza, spaghetti sauces and even in Spam.

Honey, blackstrap molasses and other unrefined sugars are generally better for you than refined sugars, but yeast plants love any kind of sugar. Too much sweet fruit or juice can even make your body sweet enough to encourage the growth of yeast.

If you take the above precautions and still get frequent yeast infections, have your doctor or family nurse practicioner check you for diabetes. Diabetic people are often prone to yeast infections.

Technorati Tags: Causes, Infections, Prevention, Vaginal, Yeast

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Candidiasis is an infection caused by the over-growing of the fungus called Candida albicans. These fungus normally grows in the stomach but harmful if found in other parts of the body. This infection is also known as thrush or yeast infection.

Normally it is found in the human stomach as it aids in digestion. If it is found in some parts of the body, it could be a serious sign or symptom of the disease. These are the body parts where Candida albicans could be found:

1. In the male genitals specifically in the prepuce of the uncircumcised man.

2. In the vagina, this is called vaginitis or vaginal irritation.

3. Fold of the skin where diaper is placed, this is called diaper rash.

4. In the oral cavities, this is called oral thrush.

Yeast are normally found in the human body, but it becomes abnormal if it overgrows on a certain parts where it should not even be there. Most women experience yeast infection in their life as Candida albicans can be found on the vagina due to over productionof yeast. In pregnant mothers, the use of antibiotics and diabetes can be a cause of candida infection.

You will know if you have candida infection if you will note the following signs and symptoms. In the vagina, you will notice a whitish gray discharge. That sometimes look like cheese or smells like beer or baking soda.

To determine the presense of candia, you can use potassium hydroxide (KOH). A piece or a skin scrap of the affected area is then placed on the slide to be viewed over the microscope. A small amount of KOH is dropped over the slide, the KOH is dissolved by the skin leaving the microorganisms unharmed. You will be seeing the pores of the Candida albicans over the microscope. If it is present in huge numbers, it will suggest yeast infection.

You may then have to rub your skin with a sterile swab. It must also be rubbed over the cultured medium, which will be incubated in a few days. Colonies of yeast may develop which gives a concrete idea of the presence of the disease in the body of the tested specimen.

Home remedies can treat this infection effectively. You can use the following guidelines to be able to get rid of candida infection:

• The most effective treatment for yeast infection is acidophilus. Acidophilus comes into many forms, such as tablets, caplets, liquid, ointment form and powdered. You can take the treatment orally or topical. Acidophilus ointments are also effective in treating the infection. The duration may take two weeks for your infection to vanish completely.

• You can also use boiled guava leaves as an antiseptic wash for your infected vagina. It has antiseptic properties that effectively removes the bacteria that grow in the skin of your vagina.

• You can also use garlic together with tea tree oil, as it is also a powerful treatment for yeast infection.

This information will be a great help for you to eliminate the infection of yeast in your body. Knowledge about the disease is the most effective tool in treating the infection.

Note: This article may be freely reproduced as long as the AUTHOR’S resource box at the bottom of this article is included and and all links must be Active/Linkable with no syntax changes.

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When a mold inspector takes bulk, tape, carpet/dust, or swab samples, spore numbers are not compared quantitatively to outdoor levels. Thus, the number of spores in these types of samples often are not as meaningful as the numbers found in air samples. Also, because the air is not being tested, your inspector cannot say for sure how much if any of the mold sampled from surfaces is in the air you are breathing. However, these samples can be helpful because they typically provide the analyst with more than just the mold spores so that identification of mold type can be more accurately conducted by viewing various structures of the mold, not just spores. In addition to providing more structure for direct microscopic examination, bulk samples are sometimes grown in the lab or run through PCR testing for analysis to the species level.

Mold Testing with Tape

When a tape sample of actual mold from a moldy surface is taken using Biotope, a clear piece of Scotch Tape, or a sticky Cyclex slide, the sample will often show entire mold structures including spore forming structures and hyphea. These can be used to confirm mold growth more confidently and rule out the possibility that the sample was just settled spores only.

Mold Testing of Bulk Samples

When a bulk sample of actual mold or moldy material is sent to a lab, the lab may use clear Scotch Tape to take a sample from the bulk mold material for examination under the microscope. The lab may culture some of the bulk mold specimen in a petri dish for analysis of the colonies to the species level.

Mold Testing of Carpet Dust

When a dust sample is analyzed it may be place on a slide for direct examination to view spores hidden in the dust directly. This is a very common method used by most mold inspectors labs and has become accepted in the industry. This popular method may be helpful but many spores are not seen because spores are hidden behind dust, or the spores blend in well with dust. The lab will often report very low spore levels even if the carpet sampled was obviously very moldy. This inspector has seen this happen many times with various dust samples tested at different labs. When studies are done on what are normal and what are elevated spore levels in carpet dust, the scientist working on the projects and the mold labs they utilize for dust analysis use very different methods for analysis.

They wash the dust and dust filter out of the collector with a mild solvent and culture the spores in a petri dish. This method will typically reveal tens of thousands of spores or even hundreds of thousands or millions of spores. Your inspector must be aware of the different methods and the different results to be expected when interpreting dust sample results.

Mold Testing with Swabs

A sterile swab provided by a microbiology lab is sometimes used for sampling. This inspector dislikes this method because unlike when using tape, the mold structures are always broken up when using swabs. Therefore, meaningful mold structure identification and spore counting cannot be done when testing mold with swabs. Many poorly trained mold inspectors will use a swab on nearly every inspection done, not because of a well thought out sampling plan, but simply because the lab gave them swabs.

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Printable Kids Easter Activities For Children At Home Or School. Includes Word Puzzles, Mazes, Easter Games, Math Worksheets, Coloring Pages, Easter Cards And More. Fun, Educational Activities Perfect For Teachers, Parents And Grandparents.
Kids Easter Activities – Printable Easter Activities And Games.

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Hilarious 1970’s vintage funny commercial that ran in the Philadelphia and Baltimore area. Hair Analysis where you send a strand of hair in a microscope slide and they will test it and tell you what is wrong and why you are going bald.

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