Good morning kids!

Today's theme is Microbes! Yes, microbes are organisms of microscopic or ultramicroscopic size.

Many of them live in our guts, on our skin and inside all the major body openings!

For the most part, microbes are essential to human life, but once in a while they can kill us.

If I can get serious for a moment, I want to tell you about Shigella. Shigella is a nasty bacterium that causes shigellosis, also known as bacillary dysentery, an intestinal disease that causes many undesirable symptoms. This disease is a problem all over the world, is highly contagious, and is slowly becoming resistant to antibiotics.

Stay away from Shigella, ok kids?

Now get outta here, before I tell your parents what you have been picking up on the playground and putting in your mouth!


Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) infection (human lung). Secondary infection to AIDS, HIV. Courtesy of Dennis Kunkel.