Laboratory Procedures In Clinical Bacteriology

The 2nd edition of this publication updates the various guidelines produced by the World Health Organization on the sampling of specimens for laboratory investigation, identification of bacteria and the testing of antibiotic resistance, focusing on quality control and assessment procedures to be followed rather than on basic techniques of microscopy and staining. The publication is split into two parts: part one deals with bacteriological investigations regarding blood, cerebrospinal fluid, urine, stools, upper and lower respiratory tract infections, sexually transmitted diseases, purulent exudates, wounds and absesses, anaerobic bacteriology, antimicrobial susceptibility testing and serological tests; and part two considers key pathogens, media and diagnostic reagents.

Although there are a number of comprehensive books in clinical micro biology, there remains a need for a manual that can be used in the clinical laboratory to guide the daily performance of its work. Most of the existing publications provide detailed and precise information, for example, by which a microorganism can be characterized and identified beyond any doubt; however, the number of tests involved in this process exceeds the capabilities and resources of most clinical laboratories and are irrele vant for patient care. It is, therefore, necessary in any clinical laboratory to extract from reference manuals, textbooks, and journals those tests and procedures that are to be used to complete the daily workload as efficiently and accurately as possible. It is also essential in the clinical laboratory to determine, on the basis of the kind of specimen being exam ined, which microorganisms are clinically relevant and require isolation and identification and which should either be excluded selectively or simply regarded as indigenous flora and, therefore, not specifically identi fied. Cost and time limit a laboratory's resources, and priorities must be established for handling the workload. The procedures described in the second edition of this manual are those selected by our staff for use in the clinical laboratory on the basis of clinic~l relevance, accuracy, reproducibility, and efficiency. Alternative procedures, when considered equivalent on the basis of personal or pub lished experience, have been included where appropriate.

In response to the ever-changing needs and responsibilities of the clinical microbiology field, Clinical Microbiology Procedures Handbook, Fourth Edition has been extensively reviewed and updated to present the most prominent procedures in use today. The Clinical Microbiology Procedures Handbook provides step-by-step protocols and descriptions that allow clinical microbiologists and laboratory staff personnel to confidently and accurately perform all analyses, including appropriate quality control recommendations, from the receipt of the specimen through processing, testing, interpretation, presentation of the final report, and subsequent consultation.

Although there are a number of comprehensive books in clinical micro biology, there remains a need for a manual that can be used in the clinical laboratory to guide the daily performance of its work. Most of the existing publications provide detailed and precise information, for example, by which a microorganism can be characterized and identified beyond any doubt; however, the number of tests involved in this process exceeds the capabilities and resources of most clinical laboratories and are irrelevant for patient care. It is, therefore, necessary in any clinical laboratory to extract from reference manuals, textbooks, and journals those tests and procedures that are to be used to complete the daily workload !is efficiently and accurately as possible. It is also essential in the clinical laboratory to determine, on the basis of the kind of specimen being examined, which microorganisms are clinically relevant and require isolation and identifica tion and which should either be excluded selectively or simply regarded as indigenous Hora and, therefore, not specifically identified. Cost and time limit a laboratory's resources, and priorities must be established for handling the workload. The procedures described in this manual are those selected by our staff for use in the clinical laboratory on the basis of clinical relevance, accuracy, reproducibility, and efficiency. ' Alternative procedures, when considered equivalent on the basis of personal or published experience, have been in cluded where appropriate.