Basic Laboratory Procedures in Clinical Bacteriology

Book excerpt: The 2nd edition of this publication updates the various guidelines produced by the World Health Organization on the sampling of specimens for laboratory investigation, identification of bacteria and the testing of antibiotic resistance, focusing on quality control and assessment procedures to be followed rather than on basic techniques of microscopy and staining. The publication is split into two parts: part one deals with bacteriological investigations regarding blood, cerebrospinal fluid, urine, stools, upper and lower respiratory tract infections, sexually transmitted diseases, purulent exudates, wounds and absesses, anaerobic bacteriology, antimicrobial susceptibility testing and serological tests; and part two considers key pathogens, media and diagnostic reagents.