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MICROBIOLOGICAL DIAGNOSTICS
Bacteriological Examination
Material
- Swabs from wounds, nose, oral cavity, ear, etc.
- Punctates, secretions, tracheobronchial secretions (TBS), bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL)
- Urine
- Feces
- Milk
Preanalytics
The sample should be taken before the start of antibiotic therapy.
If treatment has already begun, at least 3 days should pass between the end of therapy and sample collection.
Profiles & Individual Procedures
- Bacteriology – Various
- Bacteriology and Mycology – Various
- Bacteriology and Mycology – Milk
- Diarrhea Profiles
- Bacteriology – Urine
- Breeding Hygiene – Horse
- Campylobacter spp., Clostridium perfringens, Salmonella spp. etc.
Cultivation
The sample material is streaked onto various selective and non-selective culture media. In addition, an enrichment culture is performed depending on the type of material.
For ear and skin swabs, a Gram stain is also prepared.
Storage and Transport
Storage before transport should be at 4–8 °C.
The material should be shipped as soon as possible after collection.
DERMATOPHYTES
Material
- Hairs with roots
- Skin scrapings
Please collect the material after thorough disinfection at the edge of the lesion in order to obtain viable fungal hyphae. Sampling from the center of the lesion may lead to false-negative results, as healing progresses from the inside outward.
Material should be collected before the start of antifungal therapy or at least 2 weeks after completion of treatment. When using systemic antifungal agents, the elimination time must be taken into account, which depends on the pharmacokinetics of the respective medication.
Storage and Transport
The collected material should be stored in a sterile screw-cap tube without any additives to prevent contamination with microorganisms from the environment. Plastic bags, envelopes, etc. are unsuitable.
We recommend storing the material at room temperature and sending it to Veteo within 48 hours.
Which test should be chosen?
| Culture | PCR |
| Suitable for both diagnosis and therapy monitoring of dermatophytosis.
Detects only viable dermatophytes. |
Only suitable for the diagnosis of dermatophytosis. |
| The growth of dermatophytes can be overgrown by molds, as these grow faster. | Higher sensitivity (no influence of environmental microbes on the test result). |
| Possibility to detect rare dermatophyte species. | Detects all relevant species (e.g., Trichophyton spp., Microsporum canis, Nannizia gypsea). |
| Lower cost, but longer waiting time for results (minimum 14 days). | Higher cost, but results available within 5–7 days. |
What does contamination mean?
Dermatophytes such as Microsporum and Trichophyton are keratinophilic filamentous fungi, characterized, among other things, by a slow growth rate. Despite the use of culture media designed to inhibit mold growth, mixed growth of non-dermatophyte fungi can still occur. Such growth indicates contamination. In this case, the presence of pathogenic fungi in the sample may not be confirmed or ruled out by culture.
ASPERGILLUS SPP. and other molds
Material
- Swab with medium
- BAL, TBS (native)
The swab for sampling should be moistened in advance with sterile saline solution.
Storage and Transport
Store in the refrigerator at 4–8 °C. The material should be shipped as quickly as possible.
Note
The single detection of mold fungi is difficult because they are ubiquitous, which means there is a high risk of sample contamination during collection. Before starting therapy, this finding should always be confirmed with a second, newly obtained sample.
