Multicenter Assessment of Gram Stain Error Rates

Multicenter Assessment of Gram Stain Error Rates.

Gram stains remain the cornerstone of diagnostic testing in the microbiology laboratory for the guidance of empirical treatment prior to availability of culture results. Incorrectly interpreted Gram stains may adversely impact patient care, and yet there are no comprehensive studies that have evaluated the reliability of the technique and there are no established standards for performance. In t...

Correction for Samuel et al., Multicenter Assessment of Gram Stain Error Rates.

The Gram stain.

Sputum gram stain assessment in community-acquired bacteremic pneumonia.

A prospective study was performed over a 4.5-year period to determine the ability of a sputum Gram stain to predict the cause of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia. A blood culture isolate, rather than a sputum culture, served as the reference standard to provide precise identification of the etiologic agent. The study population comprised 59 bacteremic adults who expectorated a valid sputu...

Mechanism of gram stain reversal.

This paper deals with an investigation of the effect of these reactions on bacteria. Not only the common staining behavior but also certain other similarities (Fischer et al., 1949; Fischer, 1951) between intact wool and gram negative bacteria, medium degraded wool and gram variable bacteria, as well as between highly degraded wool and gram positive bacteria suggested that reversal of gram stai...