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Service Specifications: Infection medical-microbiological diagnostics


ANALYSIS REQUEST “GENERAL BACTERIOLOGY“

With the analysis request "General bacteriology", the microbiology department is instructed to examine the submitted material in such a way that the pathogens of common infectious diseases typical for localisation and material type can be detected by culture and/or microscopy. Other detection methods such as molecular biological analyses (PCR), antigen or antibody detection are not used without an explicit additional requirement. Common infectious diseases are typically caused by fast-growing pathogens that are easy to cultivate (e.g. staphylococci, enterococci, enterobacteria, nonfermenters, etc.). The examination is aimed precisely at these groups of pathogens.

The examination method is not suitable for the detection of particularly demanding or slow growing bacteria. Such pathogens should always be considered, above all, when subacute or chronic disease patterns are involved or when the infection manifests itself in an exceptional manner. Examples of this would be fistulas, chambered or thickly encapsulated processes, pseudotumorous-infiltrative growth, atypically located processes or the connection to foreign materials. In a special way this also applies to all histologically known granulomatous inflammations. Here, special cultures or alternative detection methods must generally be used. It is advisable to confer with the microbiology, at least the particular requirements must be stated in the request or examination request.

Furthermore, exceptional circumstances of infection acquisition must also be named, if special habitat requirements of the pathogens of interest can be met by the selected culture methods (e.g. pneumonia after cave excursions, wound infection after broken glass injuries on the beach, pneumonia after drowning accidents, bite wounds, etc.).

ANALYSIS REQUEST “FUNGAL CULTURE (YEAST AND MOLD)“

Fast-growing and easily cultivatable fungi (e.g. the majority of yeasts of the genus Candida) are already recorded with good reliability via the request "General Bacteriology" and are of course also indicated in the reports.

In the case of a suspicion of a fungal infection (especially when it is a question of detecting fungi from a suspected mixture of germs), the examination "Fungal culture (yeast/moulds)" should always be commissioned, with which the fungi typical of the localisation and type of material are detected by culture and/or microscopy. Other detection methods such as molecular biological analyses (PCR), antigen or antibody detection are not used without an explicit additional requirement. Here too, exceptional manifestations of infection and special circumstances of infection acquisition (e.g. after a stay abroad) should be included in the requirement.

With our pathogen-oriented access to examinations (Pdf-file, 899,7 KB), we provide you with an alphabetical list of pathogens (bacteria, fungi, parasites) with a brief description of the clinical pictures and recommended diagnostics (pathogen, material, method of choice) to give you a quick, practical overview of the spectrum of infectious medical diagnostics.

Recommendations based on the clinical picture will follow shortly.

For further information see here:

Diagnostic: know-how