Using technologies that are not commonly available, the bacteriology laboratory can identify bacteria and specific virulence factors that are difficult to detect and identify by standard techniques; aid with antimicrobial susceptibility testing and monitoring; and help to detect and track outbreaks of pathogenic bacteria.
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- Special Pathogen Detection
- Actinomyces spp.: Culture; PCR
- Bordetella pertussis: Culture; PCR
- Legionella pneumophila: Culture; Direct fluorescent antibody; PCR
- Mycoplasma pneumoniae: PCR
- Mycoplasma hominis/Ureaplasma urealyticum: Culture
- Bartonella spp.: Culture; PCR
- Chlamydia pneumoniae: PCR
- Chlamydia trachomatis: Culture; PCR
- Ehrlichia/Anaplasma: PCR
- Borrelia burgdorferi: Culture; PCR
- Neisseria gonorrheae: Culture; PCR
- Bacterial Identification
- Gas-liquid chromatography of glucose metabolic end products for anaerobe identification.
- Cell wall fatty acid analysis for speciation of non-fermenting or uncommon isolates.
- 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequence analysis for identification.
- Toxin Testing
- Staphylococcus aureus Panton-Valentine leukocidin
- Shiga-like toxins 1 and 2
- Clostridium difficile toxin by antigen and cytotoxic methods
- Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing and Monitoring
- Agar dilution susceptibility testing (MIC)
- Antibiotic bacteriocidal determination (MIC/MBC)
- Antibiotic serum activity (Schlichter test - MID/MBD)
- Antibiotic synergy testing
- Antibiotic serum level determinations
- Molecular determination of antibiotic resistance genes
- Methicillin resistance (mecA)
- Vancomycin resistance (vanA; vanB; vanC)
- Molecular Epidemiology
- Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE)
- Restriction fragment-length polymorphisms (RFLP)
