The Microbiology Team is focused on identifying microbes within a variety of materials

• In bacteriology, specimens are spread onto relevant agar plates and examined for bacterial growth. Bacterial cultures can be performed on most fluids and sites including urine, faeces, surface swabs and bronchoalveolar lavages (BAL)

• Bacterial identification is carried out using the Vitek 2 XL analyser; traditional techniques such as Gram staining and oxidase testing are also used

• Antimicrobial susceptibility testing can be carried out using the Vitek 2 XL analyser to generate minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values, and/or disc-diffusion

• Skin scrapes and hair plucks can assist in the diagnosis of skin bacterial,  fungal and parasitic infections, using microscopy and culture techniques

• Faeces can be examined for evidence of protozoan or helminth parasites using the faecal floatation method and/or rapid immunoassays