GENERAL INFORMATION

Thanks to the avant-garde approach of the Uni Hospital management and the application of modern and high-tech solutions, the Microbiological Laboratory is one of the best-equipped laboratories in the country.

The Clinical Microbiology Laboratory is in charge of developing a modern, high quality microbiological diagnosis of clinically significant agents of bacterial, mycotic and viral infections in humans, thereby improving care for a sick patient by providing a timely and most appropriate treatment.

Priority tasks of the Laboratory are:

• Maintenance of a consistently high quality of microbiological diagnostics – a basis for optimizing the care of sick patients;
• Introduction of new diagnostic methods;
• Implementation of modern management models;
• Achievement of optimal economic performance from the activity.

The main goal of the Clinical Microbiology is, by applying and developing modern and high-tech solutions in the field of laboratory diagnostics, to be the preferred laboratory for our patients and physicians – users of laboratory services.

The laboratory base is modern with contemporary diagnostic equipment. Microbiological, serological and virological tests of different types of clinical sources are performed. Classical and rapid methods prove the causes of sepsis and cardiovascular infections, urogenital infections, skin and soft tissue infections, wound infections, upper and lower respiratory tract infections, ENT infections, eye infections, CNS infections, diarrhea syndrome, etc. The Microbiological Laboratory also diagnoses infections caused by some microorganisms difficult to cure: anaerobic bacteria, hemophilic bacteria, clostridia, mycoplasma, chlamydia and fungus. The automated Multiplex PCR system identifies bacteria and viruses directly from the provided clinical material.

The Microbiological Laboratory provides diagnostics of bed-ridden patients in the Departments and of patients forwarded under the National Health Insurance Fund as well as paid tests.

In the daily practice of the laboratory, screening and confirmation methods are used to detect enzyme mechanisms of resistance to antimicrobial agents in clinically relevant bacteria, such as ESBL production, AmpC plasmid, carbapenemase activity enzymes, etc.

The Microbiological Laboratory regularly monitors, analyzes and summarizes the etiological structure and antibiotic susceptibility of the infectious agents in bed-ridden inpatients and outpatients. Antibiotic consumption in the Departments is also monitored and recommendations for rational antibiotic therapy and prophylaxis are made.

In regards to the sanitary-microbiological control of nosocomial infections, materials from the hospital environment, medical staff, devices, tools and disinfectants/sanitizers are also tested.

Full control is achieved over the entire process from the receipt of the application to the final outcome – using the high degree of automation of the registration process of incoming materials for work, storage, laboratory activities and delivery of results.

In accordance with the medical standards in the different diagnostic fields, quality control procedures of the results have been developed by:

• System internal laboratory quality control, complying to the requirements of good laboratory practices, as well as instructions by equipment manufacturers and diagnostic reagents;
• Participation in the National System of External Quality Control in Microbiology and the National System of Control and Monitoring of Antibiotic Resistance, thus ensuring a permanent, independent and objective audit of all activities carried out in the laboratory.

The vision for the future development of the Microbiological Laboratory is related to the expansion of its activities through the introduction of the latest methodological approaches based on the contemporary scientific achievements in microbiology and molecular biology.

The Microbiological Laboratory has one of its kind latest generation of equipment, guaranteeing speed and quality of the tests, thus providing adequate treatment for all patients.

Part of the laboratory equipment includes:

• Previ Isola – an automated system designed to perform microbiological cultures;
• Previ Color – an automated Gram staining system for microscope preparations;
• VITEK 2 – Compact – an automated identification and antimicrobial sensitivity system;
• VITEK MS – an automated microbial identification system based on MALDI-TOF mass-spectral innovative technology;
• Film Array – an automated Multiplex PCR system for identifying bacteria and viruses directly from clinical material;
• Rotor-Gene Q for PCR diagnostics
• BacT / ALERT – an automated system for hemocultures;
• Microscope for light and immunofluorescence microscopy;
• VIDAS – an automatic immunoassay.