scholarly journals One Small Step for the Gram Stain, One Giant Leap for Clinical Microbiology

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 1416-1417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard B. Thomson
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Microbiology ◽  
Rapid Test ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Clinical Microbiology Laboratory ◽  
Microbiology Laboratory ◽  
Gram Stain ◽  
Small Step ◽  
Link Type ◽  
Giant Leap

The Gram stain is one of the most commonly performed tests in the clinical microbiology laboratory, yet it is poorly controlled and lacks standardization. It was once the best rapid test in microbiology, but it is no longer trusted by many clinicians. The publication by Samuel et al. (J. Clin. Microbiol. 54:1442–1447, 2016,http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/JCM.03066-15) is a start for those who want to evaluate and improve Gram stain performance. In an age of emerging rapid molecular results, is the Gram stain still relevant? How should clinical microbiologists respond to the call to reduce Gram stain error rates?

Systematic Assessment of Culture Review as a Tool to Assess Errors in the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory

2008 ◽  
Vol 132 (11) ◽  
pp. 1792-1795
Author(s):  
Nancy Goodyear ◽  
Bruce K. Ulness ◽  
Jennifer L. Prentice ◽  
Brad T. Cookson ◽  
Ajit P. Limaye
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Microbiology ◽  
Susceptibility Testing ◽  
Positive Culture ◽  
The United States ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Clinical Microbiology Laboratory ◽  
Microbiology Laboratory ◽  
Negative Culture ◽  
Clinically Significant ◽  
Potentially Clinically Significant

Abstract Context.—Daily supervisory review is a common practice in microbiology laboratories; however, there are no publications describing errors corrected by this practice. Objective.—To determine (1) the correction rates for routinely reviewed positive cultures, (2) the correction rates for negative cultures, and (3) the types of corrections that are found, including the number with potential clinical significance. Design.—We prospectively assessed errors identified during culture report review for all positive (10-month period) and negative (1-month period) cultures at a single, university-based clinical microbiology laboratory in the United States. Errors were classified using predefined categories, and total and per category error rates were determined. A χ2 test was used to assess significant differences between error rates. Results.—A total of 112 108 culture reports were examined; 914 reports required a total of 1043 corrections. Of 101 703 positive culture reports, 786 (0.8%) required 900 corrections, 302 (0.3%) of which were potentially clinically significant. Of 10 405 negative culture reports, 128 (1.2%) required 143 corrections, 5 (0.05%) of which were potentially clinically significant. The rate of potentially clinically significant errors was significantly higher among positive versus negative culture reports (P < .001). Errors from positive culture reports most commonly involved susceptibility (374 [42%]), reporting (275 [31%]), and identification workup (217 [24%]). Most potentially significant errors from positive culture reports involved susceptibility testing (n = 253) and specimens from wound or lower respiratory tract (P < .001). Conclusions.—Review of culture reports from positive cultures from nonsterile sites with special attention to antimicrobial susceptibility testing and reporting would be most likely to detect potentially significant errors within the clinical microbiology laboratory.

scholarly journals Decrease in Enteroviral Meningitis - An Unexpected Benefit of COVID-19 Mitigation?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kami D Kies ◽  
Amber S Thomas ◽  
Matthew J Binnicker ◽  
Kelli L Bashynski ◽  
Robin Patel
Keyword(s):  
Cerebrospinal Fluid ◽  
Laboratory Testing ◽  
Clinical Microbiology ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Clinical Microbiology Laboratory ◽  
Microbiology Laboratory ◽  
Testing Data ◽  
Early Fall ◽  
Enteroviral Meningitis

Abstract Enteroviral meningitis is seasonal, typically exhibiting a rise in prevalence in late summer/early fall. Based on clinical microbiology laboratory testing data of cerebrospinal fluid, the expected August/September/October peak in enteroviral meningitis did not occur in 2020, possibly related to COVID-19 mitigation strategies.

scholarly journals Implementation and evaluation of a novel real-time multiplex assay for SARS-CoV-2: in-field learnings from a clinical microbiology laboratory

Pathology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (7) ◽  
pp. 754-759 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eloise Williams ◽  
Katherine Bond ◽  
Brian Chong ◽  
Dawn Giltrap ◽  
Malcolm Eaton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Clinical Microbiology ◽  
Multiplex Assay ◽  
Clinical Microbiology Laboratory ◽  
Microbiology Laboratory

scholarly journals Demonstration of Cord Formation by Rough Mycobacterium abscessus Variants: Implications for the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory: Fig. 1.

2011 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. 2293-2295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro Sánchez-Chardi ◽  
Francesc Olivares ◽  
Thomas F. Byrd ◽  
Esther Julián ◽  
Cecilia Brambilla ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Microbiology ◽  
Mycobacterium Abscessus ◽  
Clinical Microbiology Laboratory ◽  
Microbiology Laboratory

scholarly journals Experience with the use of microbiological analyzer BactoSCREEN in a routine practice of clinical microbiology laboratory

2020 ◽  
pp. 221-230
Author(s):  
Svetlana A. Gordeeva ◽  
A.Yu. Zolotarev ◽  
M.G. Movsisyan ◽  
A.V. Rozinko
Keyword(s):  
Species Identification ◽  
Clinical Microbiology ◽  
Objective Assessment ◽  
Maldi Ms ◽  
Routine Practice ◽  
Clinical Microbiology Laboratory ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Microbiology Laboratory ◽  
Staff Time ◽  
Wide Range

Objective. Assessment of bacterial identification effectiveness in clinical microbiology laboratory using the MALDI-MS based system BactoSCREEN. Materials and Methods. Bacteriological testing was done by the cultivation on Сolumbia agar with 5% of sheep blood (at 37°C for 24 hours). Colonies for identification were selected based on their growth pattern, type of hemolysis, morphology and consistency. The species identification was done by the MALDI-MS using the microbiology analyzer BactoSCREEN. Apart from MALDI-MS, we used morphology and biochemical methods for species identification when necessary. Serological tests were used for serovar and biovar identifications. Results. A total of 85945 bacterial identifications was performed in 2018. When compared to 2017, the throughput of the laboratory increased ten times. A total of 23252 isolates were obtained in the previously mentioned period. A single identification took 2.98–13.22 minutes including time for supporting procedures, whereas the staff time for one identification itself constituted an average of 1.55 minutes. When compared to manual methods, introduction of mass-spectrometry allowed us to achieve 3.5-fold decrease of the staff time in the average. Therefore, annual labor saving in terms of staffing corresponds to 11 full-time positions. Conclusions. In view of high throughput, analysis speed, simplicity and low cost of sample preparation, MALDI-MS identification fits well into the practice of clinical microbiology laboratory, especially when large-scale screening studies of bacterial cultures are required. The use of MALDI-MS is likely to be most promising when carrying out microbiological monitoring that is traditionally associated with large number of samples and wide range of microorganisms detected.

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