The Significance of Clinical Microbiology to Human Health

Clinical microbiology is the centerpiece of infectious disease diagnosis, as well as the cornerstone of infection control and prevention (Wolk, 2009). The function of this department is to study the role of microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, parasites, and the diseases that they cause in humans. Clinical microbiologists are highly trained professionalists that make countless decisions each day, saving lives of people, and benefiting the sick and at-risk members of society (Wolk, 2009). Microbiology laboratory is located in areas such as North America, and Europe (tutorgigpedia, 2011). The microbiology laboratory could be found in hospitals that perform tests on patients, in private laboratories that receive samples from general practitioners, in health clinics, and in research centers (newworldencyc., 2008). There is four fields found in microbiology: medical bacteriology, clinical virology, medical mycology, and medical parasitology (tutorgigpedia, 2011).

There are several responsibilities of a microbiologist such as, selecting laboratory methods and assure clinical relevance, optimizing both service and cost savings, educating and collaborating with healthcare team, and supporting community educational outreach (Wolk, 2009). The principal responsibility of microbiologists is, to help manage the outbreak of diseases by identifying and curbing pathogens that could potentially infect large number of people. Their job is to recognize, track, and control the outbreak in the public, and to act as the first line of protection from harmful pathogens (Wolk, 2009). A fast characterization of a microorganism improves the care quality provided to patients. However, investigating and understanding the virulence of pathogens takes a great amount of effort, and only the skilled personnel are to help make those determinations (Wolk, 2009). Appropriate specimen collection, selection, and transportation, are critical for laboratory results that provide information to establishment of diagnosis and successful treatment. The specimen should be collected in the acute phase of infection and before antibiotics are administered. Collecting specimen requires proper technique, and supplies, with minimal contamination from normal biota. Personal protective equipment should be worn to prevent contamination such as, protective laboratory coats, protective eyewear, and gloves. For packaging specimen, a container is designed to maintain the viability of organisms, and to avoid hazards. The specimen should be labeled accurately, with the specific anatomic site and patient information. Specimen should be transported promptly to a laboratory or be stored in an environment that will not degrade it (Mahon, 2011).

A microbiology laboratory section is designed to contribute protection to the laboratory workers, and provide barriers to protect persons or animals outside the laboratory. When the risk of infection by aerosol is present, the design of laboratory features ventilation systems to ensure directional airflow, and air treatment systems to decontaminate or remove agents. Biosafety practices, equipment, and facility design, are applicable in this laboratory section, where broad spectrum of indigenous-moderate risk agents are found and associated with human disease (Wilson, 2009). There are various instrumentation used including, microscope, automatic pipetting machine, autoclave, centrifuge, vacuum pump, Gas Pak anaerobic jar, incubator, etc. The equipment found in this section includes, microscopic slides, cover glasses, petri dish, inoculation tube, thermometer, balance, Bunsen burner, culture tube, bibulous paper, pipettes, agar plates, etc. (Brown, 2004).

The five tests that are performed there are IMViC Test, catalase test, serological typing, Coagulase Test, B-lactamase test. The IMViC test is used to differentiate E. Aerogenes and E. Coli with other related species. When attempting to identify a gram-negative, facultative, rod-shaped bacterial organism, group these series of tests together to find where unknown fits (Brown, 2004). The catalase test is valuable in differentiating aero tolerant strains of Clostridium from Bacillus. A sample of bacteria is placed onto a small area of glass microscope slide. By adding hydrogen peroxide, the production of bubbles of oxygen gas shows positive result which means that aerotolerant strains of Bacillus is present (Mahon, 2011). The slide agglutination test called serological typing, is a method of determining the presence of specific antigens in a microorganism. This test consists of adding a suspension of bacteria to antiserum containing antibodies specific to the known antigens. This helps to determine if certain antigens are present in an organism, then the antibodies will combine with the antigens resulting in agglutination (Brown, 2004). The Coagualse Test is a definitive test used for conforming the identification of S. aureus by its clumping factor. The 97% of strains of S.aureus have proven to be coagulase-positive while the other two species are proven to be coagulase-negative (Brown, 2004). The B-lactamase test is used to identify B-lactamase production in these organisms. The positive reaction means that the B-lactam agent, commonly used to treat infections caused by organism, would be ineffective (Mahon, 2011).

The two specialty tests performed in this laboratory are the gram-staining and urine antigen test. The gram-staining test is a staining technique that separates bacteria into two groups the gram positive and the gram negative. It is based on the ability of microorganism to retain the purple color of crystal violet during decolorization with alcohol. The gram-negative bacteria are the one that decolorize and the gram positive does not (Brown, 2004). The urine antigen test is used to detect antigens in the urine specimens with several assay methods such as, radioimmunoassay, microplate enzyme immunoassay, and rapid immunochromographic assay, for the detection of Legionella antigen in urine specimens. These rapid tests are important for the time consuming diagnosis of Legionella infections. However, the results should be confirmed with the culture, especially when determining the dynamics of an organism in a given patient population (Mahon, 2011).

I chose this particular area of clinical laboratory to research because microbiology is a beneficial study for the modern health. This type of study continues to advance and evolve compared with the other studies in clinical laboratory. There are still many microbes left undiscovered, and as one estimate suggests that about only one percent of microbes have been studied out of all the microbes there are in a given environment (newworldencyc., 2008). I find it interesting in all the things that one is able to discover that is not seen by an unaided human eye. My career goals in relation to clinical laboratory first of all are to earn a bachelor’s degree in clinical laboratory of science. I plan to earn work in the clinical chemistry of a laboratory later, where I would perform tests on patient body fluid samples.