Dr. Collins and the Case of the Mysterious Infection

Co Authors:	Paula P. Lemons Division of Biological Sciences University of Georgia plemons@uga.edu Sarah K. Huber Department of Fisheries Science The College of William & Mary skhuber@wm.edu
Abstract:	In this case study, Dr. Collins must diagnose and prescribe treatment for a young patient with a serious infection. Students receive pieces of the case in a progressive disclosure format and answer questions about bacterial infection, antibiotics, and antibiotic resistance. The case was designed for the seminar component of a large-enrollment, introductory biology course. In addition to seminar, students in the course also attend lecture and laboratory. Teaching assistants lead the 12-student seminars, during which students engage in directed inquiry exercises such as this case.
Objectives:	Describe some of the biochemical mechanisms by which antibiotics act against bacteria. Evaluate which antibiotics would be effective against a given type of bacteria. Apply basic knowledge of DNA, genes, and proteins (and the relationship between them) to a new question, i.e., how do changes in DNA observed by pulsed-field gel electorophoresis impact patterns of antibiotic resistance? Synthesize the relationship between antibiotic consumption and antibiotic resistance based on what’s been learned about bacteria, antibiotics, and natural selection. More adeptly use data from charts and gels to answer questions.
Keywords:	Antibiotics; antibiotic resistance; bacteria; infection; infectious disease; pulsed-field gel electrophoresis
Topical Area:	N/A
Educational Level:	High school, Undergraduate lower division, General public & informal education
Formats:	PDF
Type/Method:	Interrupted
Language:	English
Subject Headings:	Biology (General) Microbiology Public Health
Date Posted:	08/01/01
Date Modified:	N/A
Copyright:	Copyright held by the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science, University at Buffalo, State University of New York. Please see our usage guidelines, which outline our policy concerning permissible reproduction of this work.

Teaching Notes

Case teaching notes are intended to help teachers select and adopt a case. They typically include a summary of the case, teaching objectives, information about the intended audience and how the case may be taught, a case analysis or answer key, and references.

Download Teaching Notes

Answer Key

Answer keys provide answers to the questions posed in a case study. Since these questions are intended to be answered by students and are often graded, answer keys are password-protected and access to them is limited to registered instructors.

I used this case in a non-majors class on Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. We went over this case a week after they had covered antibiotics and antibiotic resistance. One of the things that puzzled my students was the fact that Kayla died in spite of the fact that the S. aureus that caused her infection was susceptible to vancomycin. In fact, at the end of the case, Collins’ friend, Kurt, suggests a combination treatment of vancomycin/cefazolin, although he cautions her about the possibility of vancomycin-resistance. I would love to get some feedback/clarification/thoughts on this.

Overall, my students love the case studies since they help to tie things together and help them see the relevance of the material presented in lectures. Thanks very much.

Chaya Nanavati
Department of Biology
Ohlone College
Fremont, CA
cnanavati@ohlone.edu
5/15/2006

I used this case in an introductory microbiology class consisting primarily of medical assistants in July of 2004. This actually brought together many of the concepts we had discussed. Overall the students really enjoyed this case; however, they were upset when they discovered the patient died. They also wanted some information as to how her hip joint became infected — was it due to an injury to the joint or another infection somewhere else?

I presented this case over a period of four class periods and they seemed to like that. I enjoyed using it and will probably use it again as a project the next time I teach this class.

I may also use this as a basis for homework — such as doing a one-page paper on the different antibiotics mentioned or for further research by the student on MRSA.

Thank you so much for this website.

Susan Reynolds

Robert Morris College
Springfield, IL
sreynolds@robertmorris.edu
12/16/2004

Name:
Email:
Department:
Institution:
City State:
Comments:
	Enter Security Code:

Username
Password

	Register \| Lost Your Password?