Microbiology revision checklist for NEET PG, INI-CET & FMGE

Cold sterilization group — the odd-one-out among plasma, UV, gamma

Moist-heat autoclave use and its biological spore indicator

Flaming loops and the milk pasteurization quality tests

Blood and mercury spill first-step management

Nosocomial 48-hour rule, hand-hygiene primacy and aerosol spread

Biosafety-level assignment for high-risk agents

Blood-culture collection protocol in infective endocarditis

Special stains matched to organism, incl. Albert's for diphtheria

Fixatives, frozen section and cross-linking classification

FISH probe test recognition on a labeled image

Genome composition — single-stranded genomes and DNA/RNA content

Rapid HBV test principle identification

Immunoglobulin class identification from labeled structure

IgM pentamer and simultaneous IgM/IgD B-cell expression

Papain digestion of IgG into fragments

IgE receptor location and incorrect-property spotting

Secreted versus membrane-bound antibody determination

Type I immediate — mast-cell mediators and identification

Type IV delayed — contact dermatitis and its timing

Type II versus type III — myasthenia and serum sickness

Antibody-dependent enhancement and ADCC effectors

Naive T-cell activation signals and the PD-1 trap

Gamma-delta T-cell location and first-line role

MHC restriction — class I/CD8 versus class II/CD4

Shared versus distinct T-cell and B-cell features

NK-cell markers and nude-mouse xenograft resistance

Professional antigen-presenting cell identification

Heterophile-antibody tests and the odd-one-out

Prozone phenomenon in brucellosis agglutination

Labelled versus non-labelled serological techniques

Antigen-antibody binding-kinetics graph interpretation

Autoantibody-to-disease mapping (anti-centromere)

Primary versus secondary immune-response kinetics

Active/adaptive immunity and vaccine composition principles

IgG subclass deficiency and encapsulated-organism infection

Group A pyoderma — beta-haemolysis and bacitracin sensitivity

Erysipelas (St Anthony's fire) and strep disease exclusions

Rheumatic fever — Sydenham chorea and ASO evidence

Necrotising fasciitis — group A strep in chains

Cholera toxin — GM1 ganglioside binding and cAMP rise

Cholera pathogenesis — tight-junction target and endotoxin role

El Tor biotype and curved-bacilli image identification

V. parahaemolyticus — Kanagawa phenomenon and seafood

Meningococcal meningitis — petechiae and gram-negative diplococci

CSF analysis and age-based causative organisms

Empiric therapy for acute bacterial meningitis

Typhus vectors — flea, louse, mite and tick matching

Morulae in leukocytes — Ehrlichia versus Anaplasma

Rickettsial rash distribution and Weil-Felix reaction

Scrub typhus vector nuance and guinea-pig scrotal reaction

High-risk strains and the cancers HPV does not cause

Oncogenes E6 and E7 — p53 and RB inactivation

HPV-associated cancers and anogenital warts

WHO-SAGE vaccination schedule for ages 9-14

EBV — CD21 receptor and Paul-Bunnell heterophile test

EBV disease associations and autoimmunity mechanism

HHV-8 and HTLV — Kaposi and tropical spastic paresis

Virus-cancer associations and vaccine-preventable cancers

Serological marker interpretation across HBV stages

Chronic markers and the Australia antigen

Recombinant HBsAg subunit vaccine

HBV-HEV superinfection interpretation

Viral genome classification — matching DNA/RNA strandedness (Baltimore)

Reverse transcriptase — retroviruses and HBV; RNA viruses need RT-PCR

Quantitative viral load — RT-PCR followed by real-time PCR for RNA viruses

Incubation periods and viral gene transfer (transduction)

Germ-tube (Reynolds–Braude) confirmation of C. albicans in esophageal candidiasis

Central-line candidemia — gram-positive budding yeast on the catheter tip

Vaginal candidiasis — CHROMagar speciation beyond a positive KOH/pseudohyphae

Intrinsically fluconazole-resistant Candida — krusei versus dose-dependent glabrata

Thermal dimorphism concept and its exceptions (Cryptococcus, Pneumocystis)

Histoplasma (hilar nodes, US travel) versus Talaromyces marneffei (HIV, red pigment)

Blastomyces — broad-based budding yeast with a thick refractile wall

Lymphocutaneous sporotrichosis — rose-gardener inoculation, cigar-shaped yeast

Traumatic-inoculation mycosis — sub-Himalayan farmer leg ulcers = Sporothrix

Mycetoma — discharging grains that may be fungal (eumycetoma) or bacterial (actinomycetoma)

Cervicofacial actinomycosis — sulphur granules after a dental procedure

Nocardia — weakly acid-fast, beaded, branching filaments after trauma

Species stippling on smear — Schüffner (vivax/ovale), Ziemann (malariae), Maurer (falciparum)

Species clinical clues — HRP-2 (falciparum) and longest pre-erythrocytic phase (malariae)

Acid-fast oocysts in HIV diarrhoea — size discriminates Crypto/Cyclospora/Cystoisospora

Chronic diarrhoea in transplant/HIV — large ellipsoidal Cystoisospora oocyst on stool/biopsy

Coccidian staining exceptions — Microsporidia miss the fecal acid-fast stain

Ascaris biology — intestinal obstruction/biliary disease, not rectal prolapse

Larva migrans — cutaneous (Ancylostoma braziliense) versus visceral (Toxocara)

Larval migration effects — Loeffler pneumonitis and Trichinella myocarditis

Liver flukes — Clonorchis/Opisthorchis and cholangiocarcinoma; Fasciola DOC triclabendazole

Schistosomiasis and snail transmission — Trichinella is the non-snail exception

Lung and giant intestinal flukes — Paragonimus versus large-ova Fasciolopsis/Fasciola