Clinical Laboratory Scientists in the Microbiology department perform diagnostic testing to identify infectious diseases, in particular bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses in clinical patient specimens.

The Microbiology department include the follow specialty areas: Bacteriology, Mycobacteriolgy, Parasitology, Serology, Virology and Molecular infectious diseases.

 

Specimens received in the Microbiology lab include body fluids, tissue samples, and swabs from various body sites. The challenge for the CLS is to detect a true pathogen in such specimen.

 

 

Bacteriology comprises a large volume of the workload in Microbiology. Clinical Laboratory Scientists are trained using laboratory specific protocol to identify bacterial pathogens using manual methods and automated systems.

 

The initial step in Bacteriology is specimen inoculation and performance of the direct Gram stain. Gram stains are useful in facilitating the initial choice of antimicrobial therapy by patient care providers. Specimens are inoculated on media, which will ensure optimal growth of potential pathogens.

 

Subsequently, CLS determines potential pathogens and proceeds to organisms’ identification and susceptibility testing using biochemical and automated systems. Antimicrobial Susceptibility testing facilitates the decision of physician to choosing the most appropriate course of antibiotic treatment to treat disease.

 
Mycobacteriology is the specialty area in microbiology which examines specimens for Mycobacteria species, a group of bacterial organisms which do not routinely stain with Gram stain.

 

Other stains known commonly as acid-fast stains are used to visualize these organisms which resist decolorization even with strong acid-alcohol decolorizer. Some species in this group cause tuberculosis, one of the most common global disease, and also other debilitating diseases in the immunocompromised population such as HIV and cancer patients. Some species of Mycobacteria can be spread via respiratory droplets. Thus, manipulating cultures of these organisms require specialized training, negative pressure rooms, and personal protective equipment such as gowns and fitted masks.

Parasitology

Parasitology is a division of microbiology that performs the identification of human parasites.

 
Clinical Laboratory Scientists in this division perform specialized testing to identify parasites including ectoparasites in clinical specimens. Some of the commonly isolated parasites from human stools include Giardia lamblia, Entamoeba histolytica, and pinworm.

 

Critical blood smears are examined for blood parasites such as Plasmodium species, which cause malaria, and Babesia species which is caused by tick bite.

 

 

Serology is an area of microbiology, which is devoted to detect the presence of antibody to specific diseases such as the Hepatitis A, B, and C, Epstein-Barr viruses and Lyme disease, infectious mononucleosis, and syphilis.

 
Serology combines semi-automated analyzers and manual methods to detect various causes of disease. The manual methods are rapid and allow physicians better choice of treatment for patients. The semi-automated analyzers require more time but are highly sensitive. Urinalysis is the study of urine components such as glucose to determine diseases of the urinary system. Both manual and part automated systems are available to perform testing. CLS will perform microscopic examination of the urine to look for specific microscopic elements such as blood cells, urinary crystals, and parasites such as Trichomonas vaginalis.
 

 
A CLS in virology performs testing to detect viruses in patient specimens.

 

Specimens are inoculated to live cell cultures where viruses will grow and result in cellular changes. These changes indicate the potential presence of virus, which are confirmed using specialized stains.

 

 

Molecular diagnostics laboratory utilizes the latest molecular techniques to detect and quantify the presence or absence of organisms in infected individuals. These techniques have enabled the laboratory to provide rapid turn around time for two of the most common sexually transmitted diseases: Gonorrhea and Chlamydia.

 

Molecular technology is also used to monitor disease progression and response to antiviral therapy. In particular, quantitative PCR is now used routinely to monitor HIV, and HCV infections. The genotypic testings are used to determine the presence of mutations in these viruses and their expected response to antiviral therapies. PCR is also used to detect HSV in CSF from patients with HSV encephalitis, Cytomegalovirus (CMV) from variety of sources among the transplant patients and Human Papilloma virus (HPV) testing in conjunction with the Pap smear to screen for cervical cancer.

 

Some of the technology readily available include Direct probe assay, PCR, strand displacement amplification (SDA), DNA sequencing and several other complex procedures. This area of the clinical laboratory is up to date and continuously expanding to incorporate additional testing for other infectious diseases agents.

 

This area of the clinical laboratory is up to date and continuously expanding to provide additional testing for other infectious diseases.