Staphylococcus epidermidis is the organism that was identified based on the tests that I had conducted. The tests that I used to identify this organism were the coagulase test and the catalase test. My bacterium was beta hemolytic as well. First, a gram stain had to be done to determine whether the organism was a gram positive organism or a gram negative organism. This determined which set of tests that had to be done. My bacterium turned out to be gram positive. When conducting these tests, I only had to do the coagulase test and the catalase test because when doing the catalase test, the reaction was that it had bubbled. If it did not bubble, or have a positive reaction, then I would not have had to do the coagulase test. Also, since my bacterium caused a positive catalase test, I only had to do the coagulase test and no other tests. This is because with staphylococcus organisms, these are the only tests …show more content…
Staphylococcus epidermidis is an opportunistic pathogen, meaning that they can cause infection more frequently and more easily in persons’ with a weakened immune system such as, HIV patients (CDC, 2015). This organism is seen primarily in nosocomial infections, also known as, hospital-acquired infections (Bukhari, 2004). This means that the organisms favors the hospital environment and is easily passed to a person while they are in the hospital. Ways that a person can get a Staphylococcus epidermidis infection is through IV’s, more commonly in drug users, catheters, and artificial equipment (Bukhari, 2004). Skin-to-skin contact can also be a form of getting this type of infection. The people that are most susceptible to get Staphylococcus epidermidis are newborns, the elderly, immunocompromised patients, and patient’s who are using a catheter. This is because newborns and the elderly do not have as strong of immune systems as children and middle-age adults