Chulhun L. Chang
Ann Clin Microbiol 2018 December, 21(4): 69-74. Published on 20 December 2018.
Laboratory medicine is a specialized division that supports physicians in the care of patients by providing rapid and accurate in vitro diagnostic tests. Standardization of every component of a specific test is essential for producing accurate results. The Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) was founded to develop a formal consensus process for standardization in 1968, and has been publishing standards and guidelines covering all aspects of clinical, research, and other laboratory work. CLSI guidelines are widely used around the world for standardization. The CLSI antimicrobial susceptibility testing subcommittee (AST SC) consists of 6 standing and many ad hoc working groups. Members of the AST SC review submitted proposals and suggestions, decide on approving these submissions in face-to-face meetings held twice a year, and revise CLSI documents accordingly. As these face-to-face meetings are open to anyone who registers to attend, I strongly encourage the members of our Society to attend and actively participate in document development.
[in Korean]
Duyeal Song, Hyun-Ji Lee, Su Yeon Jo, Sun Min Lee, Chulhun L. Chang
Ann Clin Microbiol 2018 December, 21(4): 75-79. Published on 20 December 2018.
Background: Urine culture is one of the most frequently requested tests in microbiology. Automated urine analyzers yield much infection-related information. The Sysmex UF-5000 analyzer (Sysmex, Japan) is a new flow cytometry urine analyzer capable of quantifying urinary particles, including bacteria, WBCs, and yeast-like cells (YLCs) and can provide a Gram stainability flag. In this work, we evaluated how many unnecessary urine cultures could be screened out using the UF-5000.
Methods: We compared the culture results of 126 urine samples among 453 requested urine cultures (from sources other than the Urology and Nephrology departments) with urinalysis results. Urine cultures were considered positive if bacterial or YLC growth was ≥104 CFUs/mL.
Results: We used urinalysis cut-off values of 50/μL and 100/μL for bacteria and YLC, respectively. Forty eight of the 126 (38.1%, or 10.6% of 453 requested) cultures were below these cut-off values and did not contain any culture-positive samples.
Conclusion: Bacteria and YLC counts generated using the UF-5000 analyzer could be used to screen out negative cultures and reduce urine culture volume by ∼10% without sacrificing detection of positive cultures.
Jung-Beom Kim, Jae-Kwang Kim, Hyunjung Kim, Eun Jung Cho, Yeon-Joon Park, Hae Kyung Lee
Ann Clin Microbiol 2018 December, 21(4): 80-85. Published on 20 December 2018.
Background: The aim of this study was to comparatively evaluate the bactericidal effects of copper, brass (copper 78%, tin 22%), and stainless steel against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREFM), and multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MRPA).
Methods: The isolates (MRSA, VREFM, MRPA) used in this study were mixed wild type 3 strains isolated from patients treated at Uijeongbu St. Mary’s Hospital in 2017. These strains showed patterns of multidrug resistance. The lyophilized strains were inoculated into and incubated for 24 hr in tryptic soy broth at 35°C. The initial bacterial inoculum concentration was adjusted to 105 CFU/mL. A 100-mL bacterial suspension was incubated in containers made of brass (copper 78%, tin 22%), copper (above 99% purity), and stainless steel at 35°C. Viable counts of bacteria strains were measured for 9 days.
Results: In this study, the bactericidal effects of copper and brass on MRSA, VREFM, and MRPA were verified. The bactericidal effect of stainless steel was much weaker than those of copper and brass. The bactericidal effect was stronger on MRPA than on MRSA or VREFM.
Conclusion: To prevent cross infection of multidrug resistant bacteria in hospitals, further studies of longer duration are needed for testing of copper materials on objects such as door knobs, faucets, and bed rails.
[in Korean]
Yi Hyeon Kim, Hae-Sun Chung, Miae Lee
Ann Clin Microbiol 2018 December, 21(4): 86-91. Published on 20 December 2018.
Background: The PANA RealTyper HPV kit (PANAGENE, Korea; PANA RealTyper) was developed to genotype human papillomavirus (HPV) and was based on multiplex real-time PCR amplification and melting curve analysis. In this study, we compared PANA RealTyper to the AdvanSure HPV GenoBlot assay (LG Life Sciences, Korea; AdvanSure assay) and attempted to evaluate the performance of PANA RealTyper.
Methods: A total of 60 cervical specimens were collected from women undergoing routine cervical cancer screening. The AdvanSure assay and PANA RealTyper kit identified the same 20 high-risk genotypes. However, the AdvanSure assay identified 15 low-risk genotypes, while the PANA RealTyper kit identified only 2 but detected 18 low-risk genotypes.
Results: Among the total 60 specimens, 54 high-risk genotypes (40 specimens) and 20 low-risk genotypes (18 specimens) were detected. The agreement rates of the assays ranged from 94.4 to 100% for high-risk genotypes. Among 9 genotypes that were positive in the PANA RealTyper kit but negative in the AdvanSure assay, 7 were confirmed as true positive (HPV genotypes 16 (n=1), 39 (n=1), 52 (n=1), 58 (n=2), 68 (n=2)). Among 4 genotypes that were negative in the PANA RealTyper kit but positive in the AdvanSure assay, 3 were confirmed as HPV genotype 59. Among the 19 low-risk genotypes positive in the AdvanSure assay, there were 2 cases of HPV 6 and 1 case of HPV 11. In comparison, only 1 positive case of HPV 6 was determined by the PANA RealTyper kit.
Conclusion: The PANA RealTyper kit was comparable with the AdvanSure assay. The PANA RealTyper kit would be useful and suitable for HPV genotyping in the clinical laboratory.
[in Korean]
Sun Min Lee, Kyung Jun Kim, Chulhun L. Chang
Ann Clin Microbiol 2018 December, 21(4): 92. Published on 20 December 2018.
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