What is a Gram Positive Infection?

Question

I am 28 weeks pregnant and had a routine Ob appointment on Monday July 30 with a routine urine test. The nurse called today and said there was an infection in my urine called a Gram Positive Infection. Last week suffered from a slight head cold that left me feeling congested with no other serious symptoms.

I searched the internet for information on Gram positive infections but found very little that proided an answer in layman's terms. What is a Gram Positive Infection and what are the effects on a fetus at 28 weeks gestation?

When I questioned the nurse she just stated that it was a bacterial infection.

Thank

Answer 1

Gram positive and gram negative and just ways of classifying bacteria. If you ever take Microbiology you will do this yourself in the lab, it's kind of fun.

Two common bacteria that may have found their way into your urine are staph aureus (common in the mouth) and e. coli (found in feces). However, when tested the cell wall of gram-positive bacteria (such as staph aureus) will retain gentian violent and show up as colored pinkish purple. Gram-negative bacteria, such as E. coli do not.

If you have a gram positive infection, most likely it's a staph infection, do you have a bladder infection? Did they do a vaginal swab at this appt? If so they may have been testing for GBS or group beta strep, a bacteria that lives in some women's vaginas. Normally, this is benign, but the dr. needs to know so you can be treated during labor with antibiotics. Otherwise, the baby is at risk for sepsis or infection.

Answer 2

help


Definition of Gram-positive

Gram-positive: Gram-positive bacteria retain the color of the crystal violet stain in the Gram stain. This is characteristic of bacteria that have a cell wall composed of a thick layer of a particular substance (called peptidologlycan).

The Gram-positive bacteria include staphylococci ("staph"), streptococci ("strep"), pneumococci, and the bacterium responsible for diphtheria (Cornynebacterium diphtheriae) and anthrax (Bacillus anthracis).

The Danish bacteriologist J.M.C. Gram (1853-1938) devised a method of staining bacteria using a dye called crystal (gentian) violet. Gram's method helps distinguish between different types of bacteria. The gram-staining characteristics of bacteria are denoted as positive or negative, depending upon whether the bacteria take up and retain the crystal violet stain or not.