Calling all Leishmaniacs:  it’s time to move on from tropical infections of the gastrointestinal tract to one of the most interesting of parasitic infections; Leishmaniasis. Next Tuesday’s Tropical Medicine Breakfast will cover the subject in two units: clinical tropical medicine, and clinical parasitology/entomology. The emphasis will be on Leishmaniasis as seen in Australia.

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For those working towards the ACTM Fellowship exam there are some useful on-line learning resources:

• eMedicine
• WHO
• Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
• Medical Journal of Australia

It’s near the end of a winter week on call and I’m getting ready to jet off to plan another bug-hunting adventure. No boxes, lab gear or cold reagents to worry about this time. Just ideas and a B5 notebook. Some things need sketching out in pencil on a clean sheet of paper before they can fly. So the MicroGnome will be absent from his desk for a couple of days; disconnected briefly from a reliable Blogging engine. But do not fear; the next Topical Medicine Breakfast has already been prepared, supplementary material for the last TMB is under starter’s orders, and there will be an on-line version of this week’s talk on field applications of molecular microbiology up on this site very shortly.

In the meantime, you need to take a look at this futuristic introduction to social medicine from our supporters at Life in the Fast Lane. Here you will encounter such exotic species as the solar-powered RMO (yes, the light’s just gone on and, no, the sun does not necessarily shine out of his mouth or any other orifice). Clearly the jungle is full of wonderful beasts. After the MicroGnome’s initial, jaw-dropping awe had subsided, he began to consider the possible consequences for zoonotic infection when mere mortals stray into the social medicine jungle. LITFL’s guide hints at navigation aids for the beginner. Could there be a field guide for the novice backhacker?

You might want to think carefully before your next mouthful. The up-coming Tropical Medicine Breakfast begins our series on enteric infections, with a slot on enteric fever and a second unit on parasitic enteropathogens. All those with a strong stomach are welcome! [calendar of events]

100706 TMB flier

Recent MicroGnome features on travel-related diarrhoea and parasitic enteropathogens:

• clinical problem-solving
• post-infectious lactose intolerance
• abdominal pain in overseas resident