Proper Diagnosis

• Proper Diagnosis of infection requires

  • Patient History
  • Physical Examination
  • Evaluating patient's sign and symptoms
  • Implementing appropriate clinical specimen
• Clinical Specimen


  • Blood
  • Urine
  • Feces
  • Cerebrospinal Fluids
  • Sputum
  • Throat swab
  • Wound specimen
• Importance of High Quality Specimen

  • To achieve accurate, clinically relevant laboratory results
  • To provide information about the patient's infectious disease properly
• Component of Specimen Quality

  • Proper Specimen Selection
  • Proper Specimen Collection
  • Proper transport of the specimen to the laboratory
• The etiologic agent may not be found or may be destroyed if specimen is improperly collected
• Overgrowth by indigenous micro flora may mask the pathogen if specimen is improperly collected
• Contaminants may interfere if specimen is improperly collected
• Proper Selection, Collection & Transport of Specimen

  • The specimen must be properly and carefully selected
  • The specimen must be properly and carefully collected
  • The material should be collected from site where the suspected pathogen is most likely to be found
  • Whenever possible, specimen should be obtained before anti microbial therapy begun
  • The acute stage of the disease is the most appropriate time to collect most specimen
  • Specimen collection should be performed with care and tact to avoid harming the patient
  • A sufficient quality of the specimen must be obtained to provide enough material for all required diagnostic tests
  • All specimen should be placed or collected into a sterile container to prevent contamination
  • Specimen should be protected from heat and cold and promptly delivered to the laboratory
  • Hazardous specimen must be handled with even greater care to avoid contamination of the courier, patients and health care professionals
  • Whenever possible sterile or dispose specimen container properly
  • The specimen container should be properly labeled
• Pathology


  The study of the structural and functional manifestation of disease
• Pathologist


  A physician who has had an extensive , specialized training in pathology
• Anatomical Pathology


  Where pathologist performed autopsies in the morgue and examine diseased organs, stained tissue sections and cytology specimen
• Clinical pathology


  Consist of blood bank, clinical microscopy,hematology ., immunology lab
• Specimen used for bacteria

  • Blood
  • Bone marrow
  • Sputum
  • CSF
  • Cervical and vaginal swab
  • Urogenital secretion
  • Conjunctival swab
  • Feces and rectal swab
  • Tissue specimen
  • Nasal swab
  • Pus from wound
  • Synovial fluid
  • Throat swab
• Specimen used for virus

  • Blood
  • Bronchial washes
  • CSF
  • Conjunctival swab
  • Tissue specimen
  • Feces and rectal swab
  • Throat swab
  • Urine
• Specimen used for fungi

  • Blood
  • CSF
  • Skin scrapping
  • Hair clipping
  • Nail Clipping
  • Sputum
  • Tissue specimen
• Specimen used for parasite

  • Blood
  • CSF
  • Feces/ rectal Swab
  • Scotch tape prep
  • Urogenital secretion
  • Skin snip
  • Sputum
  • Tissue specimen
  • Urine