South Central Association for Clinical Microbiology

19/10/2025

Infection Prevention Week! October 19-25

This week, we celebrate the unsung heroes who keep our communities safe — from infection prevention specialists to clinical microbiologists working tirelessly behind the scenes!

🧴 Wash your hands
😷 Follow proper PPE protocols
🧪 Trust your lab teams for accurate results
💉 Support vaccination and antimicrobial stewardship

Every small action helps stop the spread and protect patients, families, and healthcare workers alike. Together, we can make infection prevention everyone’s responsibility!

17/10/2025

Scary Microbiology Stories 😱 👻🦠

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study: A Dark Chapter in Medical History

From 1932 to 1972, the U.S. Public Health Service conducted a study in Tuskegee, Alabama, to observe the natural course of untreated syphilis in African American men. The tragedy? The participants were never told they had syphilis — and were denied treatment, even after penicillin became the standard cure in the 1940s. Researchers misled the men, telling them they were being treated for “bad blood,” while collecting data as the disease progressed. Dozens died, others suffered lifelong complications, and many families were deeply affected.

The exposure of the Tuskegee Study in 1972 led to major reforms in medical ethics, including the creation of Institutional Review Boards (IRBs), stronger informed consent laws, and the Belmont Report, which emphasizes respect, beneficence, and justice in research. Today, the Tuskegee Syphilis Study stands as a painful but powerful reminder of why ethics, transparency, and human dignity must always come first in science.

15/10/2025

Be a Handwashing Hero!

October 15 is Global Handwashing Day, a global advocacy day dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding about the importance of handwashing with soap as an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases and save lives.

For more information, visit

a global advocacy day dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding about the importance of handwashing with soap as an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases and save lives. Global Handwashing Day is an opportunity to design, test, and replicate creative ways to encourage people to....

13/10/2025

More of our wonderful vendors!

13/10/2025

Thank you to our exhibitors! We value each of you sharing your products with us here in Indiana!

13/10/2025

Indiana Fall Meeting for 2025 is underway with microbiologists, speakers, and exhibitors! Thanks to Tina McMurtire for planning this meeting and to our exhibitors for supporting our meeting!

10/10/2025

Scary Microbiology Stories 😱 👻🦠

Operation Sea-Spray: When the U.S. Military Tested Bacteria on a City

In 1950, residents of San Francisco witnessed an eerie red mist drift over the bay — but few knew it was part of a secret U.S. Navy experiment called Operation Sea-Spray. The military released Serratia marcescens, a red-pigmented bacterium, to study how biological agents might spread in coastal cities. Unfortunately, several people later developed unusual infections, sparking ethical and safety concerns about using microbes in open-air testing. This event became a turning point, raising awareness about bioethics, public health safety, and the importance of transparency in scientific research. Even decades later, Operation Sea-Spray reminds us that the lessons of microbiology reach far beyond the lab.

08/10/2025

Microbe Spotlight: Halloween Edition!
The Vampire Bacteria: Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus! 🧛

This Halloween, meet one of microbiology’s creepiest creatures — a bacteria that hunts and devours other bacteria! Like a microscopic vampire, Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus latches onto its prey (Gram-negative bacteria like E. coli), drills inside, and feeds until nothing remains!

06/10/2025

Upcoming Advancing Expertise in Microbiology (AEM)!

Topic: Interesting Cases in Bacteriology
DATE: October 14, 2025 (Tuesday)
TIME: 12:00 noon Eastern Time (Live Lecture with Q&A)

SPEAKER: Macy Wood, PhD, D(ABMM)
Associate Director, Clinical Microbiology, Wisconsin Diagnostics Lab/Froedtert Health
DESCRIPTION:

This presentation explores the identification of aerobic actinomycetes through a series of bacterial case studies. It will examine both traditional techniques—such as microscopy, culture characteristics, and biochemical testing—and advanced laboratory methods, including sequencing and mass spectrometry (e.g., MALDI-TOF). The discussion will emphasize the strengths and limitations of each approach in clinical microbiology. In addition, emerging aerobic actinomycetes of clinical significance will be discussed along with the diagnostic challenges they present.

OBJECTIVES:

-Evaluate and classify aerobic actinomycetes based on traditional laboratory staining methods.
-Discuss the advantages and pitfalls of various laboratory methods for the identification of aerobic actinomycetes.
-Recognize emerging aerobic actinomycetes.

For more information, please visit: https://scacm27.wildapricot.org/Upcoming-SCACM_AudioConferences

29/09/2025

SCACM Fall Meeting WEST VIRGINIA 2025

When: 31 Oct 2025 8:00 AM - 3:30 PM
Location: Holiday Inn Morgantown-University Area 1188 Pineview Dr. Morgantown, WV 26505

FREE for SCACM Members when you register before October 17th!
MEMBER REGISTRATION- After October 17th – $40.00
NON-MEMBER REGISTRATION- Advanced (before October 17th ) – $40.00
NON-MEMBER REGISTRATION- After October 17th – $60.00

Register at: https://scacm27.wildapricot.org/event-6237620

22/09/2025

SCACM Fall Meeting OHIO 2025

When: 29 Oct 2025 7:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Location: Quest Conference Center 9200 Worthington Rd, Westerville, OH 43082

FREE for SCACM Members when you register before October 15th!
MEMBER REGISTRATION- After October 15th – $40.00
NON-MEMBER REGISTRATION- Advanced (before October 15th ) – $40.00
NON-MEMBER REGISTRATION- After October 15th – $60.00

Register at: https://scacm27.wildapricot.org/event-6244863

17/09/2025

Michigan Fall SCACM
We had a lot of exhibitor interaction time, a fabulous lunch and two more great speakers, Dr. VanEnk and Dr. Ortiz (Ticks/Lyme and AST).