Microbiology

The Clinical Microbiology has cutting-edge diagnostic tests for infectious disease agents.

Clinical Microbiology Laboratory offers comprehensive testing for detection, isolation, characterization and susceptibility testing of infectious agents. We utilize rapid direction detection methods where possible for optimal patient care, including immunologic assays. The serology section also performs testing for selected autoimmune disorders. The laboratory is a leader among nearby centres.

We serve as a reference center for a number of laboratories and hospitals. The chief functions of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory are to examine and culture specimens for microorganisms, to make accurate species identification of important isolates, to perform antibiotic susceptibility tests when indicated, and to evaluate serological samples for infectious diseases. These tasks will assist physicians in the diagnosis of infectious diseases and the treatment of patients with these diseases. Microbiology data are also valuable in monitoring the course of antibiotic therapy and in providing epidemiological information for defining common sources of infections.

Becton Dickinson Blood Culture System (FX 40):

The various sections in Microbiology are as follows

  • Bacteriology
  • Hepatitis/HIV
  • Infectious Disease Serology
  • Initial Processing/Media
  • Mycology/Mycobacteriology
  • Parasitology

The department is highly advanced and equipped with the following analysers

Becton Dickinson Blood Culture System (FX 40):

The fully automated Blood culture system is proven to isolate any systemic infection causing organisms very much in advance compared to manual systems. Blood culture testing is one of the most important functions of the microbiology laboratory as clinicians rely on this information to aid in the diagnosis of bacteremia and fungemia. The BACTEC FX System builds on the proven history of previous BACTEC instrumentation; it goes much further with exciting innovations such as: Vial-activated workflow, advanced ergonomics, remote alarms and blood culture observation, and customer-focused data management. The patented BACTEC resin media have been shown to effectively neutralize a wide variety of antibiotics, allowing growth of microorganisms that would not occur with conventional media.

BACTEC resin media achieve significantly higher isolation rates in antibiotic patients than systems using only broth dilution. This greater recovery leads to more accurate diagnosis and effective treatment, which can in turn lead to shorter hospital stays, lower patient costs and greater overall laboratory and institutional efficiency.

Vitek 2 Compact Fully automated bacterial identification and `sensitivity sytem

  • VITEK 2 provides a complete antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) solution, with MIC results for bacteria, including slow-growing, fastidious and anaerobic bacteria
  • Rapid antibiotic susceptibility test (AST) results allow for early intervention in empiric antibiotic therapy, improve patient outcomes, decrease hospital length of stay and associated costs of prolonged hospitalization, allow for targeted antibiotic therapy and de-escalation of empiric therapy
  • Targeted antibiotic therapy and de-escalation of empiric therapy improves antibiotic stewardship and reduces possibility of adverse drug events due to unnecessary therapy
  • Phenotypic analysis of every result improves resistance mechanism detection, validates susceptibility results and minimizes the possibility of erroneous results due to laboratory error
  • Wide range of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values helps to guide antibiotic selection and dosing
  • Epidemiology reports include susceptibility trending information, organism occurrence and antibiogram generation
  • Provides rapid MIC results for Gram negative bacteria and Gram positive bacteria

    • Becton Dickinson Mgit for Mycobacterial Culture

    Flourescent Microscope (Euroimmun) for Mycobacteria staining