getting sick from microbiology

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I love microbiology and am interested in taking a course this year but there is one thing that is keeping me from taking it. I am concerned about getting sick from dealing with germs in the lab. I want to know if someone has gotten sick, be it a mild disease, from the lab work or i am just over-reacting and its not a big threat.

You can say i am kind of a germophobe but i do get ill pretty easily especially diarhea from eating a little "dirty" food while my brother, friends etc. stay totally fine from eating the same food. By dirty i mean slightly under-cooked or fast foods, food from low-quality restaurants etc.. So maybe other people in the lab would be fine while i may get sick. Just curious if after all the precautions will i still end up getting some bacteria or germs on me ?, i read about the endospores and spores that some bugs produce that are easily air-dispersed so is it possible to avoid them.

So what do you think should i take the course or pursue something different ?. I know i love microbiology, i read a few books my friend gave me and found it very interesting until reading about the fungus spores and viruses like ebola and marburg viruses which really gave me the scare. They were interesting though but i am scared of contacting a deadly disease because of my interest of working with them.

Sorry for the long post but i really don't want to end up regretting it, the college won't be refunding the fees once i enroll so i am thinking really hard about it and would need some advice.

Cheers

While I agree with everyone that you won't get sick in your micro class, I think you may need to reconsider this as a vocation. I currently work in a Micro lab handling BSL 2 organisms - this is as safe as you will find in this industry. My observation has been that new hires typically spend the first 1 - 2 years constantly getting sick. It's nothing bad, but the positive pressure requirements tend to dry out the mucous membranes and they fall ill until they've caught pretty much everything. (I did catch MRSA my first month - but I have no idea where it came from.)

Since you seem squeamish about illness, I suggest you really think it over.

Specializes in ICU, Radiology,Infectious Disease,Forensic Nursing.

I understand your worry! I came down with light case of impetigo from microbiology! I know it was from the Staph we were working with. I have no idea how it happened, somehow it got on my skin, and I must have gotten it on my face maybe from my clothes?

Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.

As others have stated, you won't get sick from the organisms in Microbiology. However, if your goal is to go on to get a Clinical Laboratory Science degree, you will be working with pathogens down the road. If you're afraid of germs, you're pursuing the wrong career path. My micro prof was always telling stories of co-workers in the hospital lab that came down with illnesses because they didn't follow proper procedures. He wasn't trying to scare us, but he was trying to make a point that if you follow proper precautions, you shouldn't have to worry about catching anything.

So, think long and hard about what you feel you can and cannot handle before you decide to go down this path of study. Good luck :)

I honestly freaked out after the first lab. The instructor went on and on about the importance of cleanliness and safety in the lab, and how we would be working with some dangerous bugs and would be at risk. One student was pregnant and the instructor advised her to do as little as possible with the bugs and have her lab partner do most of the work. I always sprayed my bag and shoes with lysol first thing when I got home; I know that doesn't kill everything, though. I was a germ freak that semester, but the feeling has since faded. ;) As far as I know, no one got sick. I really enjoyed the class, and it actually made me consider going a clinical lab route. I actually think the most dangerous thing we experienced was a gas leak one day...now that could have really hurt us.

Undergrad micro is totally safe. I took it around 12 years ago, and the worst thing about it was the smell, lol. I wouldn't stick your fingers in the colonies and rub your eye, mouth, nose, open wounds, or genitals, but you'll be ok, lol. You won't get any more sick from it than you would any other class chock full of 20 year old over-secreting, hormone baskets!

We used to tell the students that it is perfectly possible to get a venereal disease in a public bathroom...but the floors are usually cold and hard and a nice big bed is more comfortable.

Translation: Chill out.

In my micro class we used non-pathogenic strains of the diseases, this means they where genetically altered in a lab to not be able to cause disease. I had to take petri dishes home with me, and kept live cultures of e.coli in my fridge and was fine. THEY CANNOT CAUSE DISEASE!

Like previous posts, you will be taught how to safely and properly handle the bacteria in class. We just had a rule of no food allowed in class. I think the most virulent strains of bacteria we ever worked with were samples we took off of everyday items (water fountain, bottom of backpacks, cell phones, people's feet, etc). The one thing that my prof. made sure we understood: Microorganisms are ubiquitous!

I understand your worry! I came down with light case of impetigo from microbiology! I know it was from the Staph we were working with. I have no idea how it happened, somehow it got on my skin, and I must have gotten it on my face maybe from my clothes?

More likely you touched someone with it. Or you licked the petri dish and you're not telling. :) (I'm KIDDING!) It's generally spread by close personal contact (this is why little kids spread it so easily - they're always up in each other's business) and it's not easy to spread in the air unless you've got an open sore of some sort.

Thank you everyone for the helpful replies. Each one helped really.

I thought about this for a few months (missed the deadline that was like half a year ago) and i am pretty clear now i do want to get in the program (the next admission date is next month and i'd be applying).

I was just scared of catching something nasty but i took a tour of the university lab and talked to students over there who said they won't be using any pathogenic organisms. Besides the equipments they use like biosafety cabinets also keep safe.

Also like most of you said, i am dealing with more unknown/opportunistic bacteria in my everyday than in the lab controlled environment of known strains of bacteria. I bet my old keyboard that i haven't washed for years that i am using without fear while typing this has more type of nasties than i can imagine :o

Anyway just wanted to say thank you for the support and not ridiculing me for asking such a stupid question. I am glad i found these forums!

Wash your hands, don't lick the table or sniff a petri dish. I found out after my class that the bacteria the school used was special ordered, genetically weakened. So the odds of getting sick were really low unless you were super careless or were immunosuppressed

Don't drink the broths either

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