Point of Care Testing for the Diagnosis of Fungal Infections: Are We There Yet?

Laboratory diagnosis of fungal infections

Selection of appropriate specimens for culture and microscopic examination is based on the results of clinical and radiographic examination and consideration of the most likely fungal pathogen that may cause such an infection. Specimens should be collected under aseptic conditions or after appropriate cleaning and decontamination of the collection site and rapidly transported to the clinical my...

The Prevalence of fungal infections in children with hematologic malignancy in Ali-Asghar Children Hospital between2005 and 2010

Background A fungal infection represents a growing problem in children with hematologic malignancies,during chemotherapy induced neutropenia.Fungal colonization is considered a major riskfactor for subsequent fungal infections. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate prevalence of fungal infection among children admitted to hospital between 2005 and 2010 in Tehran, Iran. Materials...

Can We Apply the Control Material from Standard Clinical Chemistry Analyzer for Usage in the Point of Care Testing Analyzer?

Comparison of serum PCR assay and histopathology for the diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis and mucormycosis in immunocompromised patients with sinus involvement

Background and Purpose: Invasive fungal infections cause morbidity and mortality in patients with hematologic malignancies and immunosuppression. Although these infections are commonly caused by Candida and Aspergillus species, infections caused by Mucoralean fungi are also on a growing trend. The definitive diagnosis of mucormycosis includes visualization of non-septate hyphae on patholog...

Epidemiology and antifungal susceptibility of Candida species in a tertiary care hospital, Kolkata, India

Background and Purpose: The incidence of fungal infection as well as candidemia has increased significantly, contributing to morbidity and mortality in the developed countries. The alarming increase in infections with multidrug resistant bacteria is due to overuse of a broad spectrum antimicrobials, which leads to over growth of Candida spp.; thus, enhancing its opportunity to cause the disease...