This summary reflects my experience with LLMs over the past several months. I have interacted with Gemini (formerly Bard), ChatGPT (including version 4.5), Perplexity, Claude, and Grok3, along with some use of DeepSeek, Mistral, AllenAI, Leonardo, Midjourney and Copilot. Every LLM has its strengths and weaknesses, and no one LLM is the best at doing…
What does NICE guideline 2021 say about assessing and managing C difficile infection? Comparison between NICE 2021 guideline and IDSA 2021 update IDSA/SHEA focussed update 2021 NICE 2021 1st episode of CDAD -1st line Fidaxomicin 200 mg BO PO 10 days Vancomycin 125 mg QDS PO 10 days 1st episode of CDAD – 2nd line…
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(Academic purpose only. If you need clinical advice, please speak to your doctor.) NTM Pulmonary Disease Guidelines BTS Guidelines – October 2017 | Dr Swathi Gurajala, MD, FRCPath NTM Epidemiology – Relevant Species in UK M. avium complex: 45% M. malmoense: 22% M. abscessus: 14% M. xenopi: 5% M. kansasii: 4% M. chelonae: 2.6% M….
One of our registrars passed part 2 recently. I asked him about his preparation. He kindly shared with me some useful tips which may help anyone preparing for part 2. What did you read? What I read was a mix of Here are the links to the resources mentioned Mandell, Douglas, and Bennett’s Principles and…
Bacteria Fusobacterium necrophorum is a Gram-negative, non-motile, non-spore-forming anaerobic pleomorphic bacterium. It may appear in coccobacillus or filamentous forms, which are more common in younger cultures. It is a member of the normal bacterial flora of the oropharynx, genitourinary tract, and gastrointestinal tract. Culture and identification There are 14 species of Fusobacterium, 10 of which…
Type of specimen: Ear swab Middle ear fluid Scraping of material from the ear canal (for fungal infection) Expected organisms Otitis Externa Acute localised otitis externa Staphylococcus aureus Group A Streptococcus furuncle Erysipelas Acute diffuse otitis externa Pseudomonas aeruginosa S. aureus Anaerobes Treatment – topical cleaning of debris. Antibiotics are not useful. Chronic otitis externa Colonisation by Enterobacteriaceae Fungi Treatment…
Clavams (Classical β-lactam-structured inhibitors) Inhibitor Structure type Mechanism Effective vs β-lactamase class Unique features Clavulanic acid β-lactam (oxazolidine ring) Irreversible suicide substrate Class A (TEM, SHV); weak vs C/D Only natural inhibitor (from Streptomyces clavuligerus); first marketed (1981) Sulbactam β-lactam (penicillanic acid sulfone) Irreversible acyl-enzyme Class A > C (limited) Has intrinsic antibacterial activity vs…
For FRCPath Microbiology, I consider the fungi highlighted in yellow are must-read. Grey highlighted ones – if you have time.
