BIO-1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Aspergillus, Glucose, Galactomannan
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Lower respiratory specimen to diagnosis pneumonia, lung nodule, or cavity. Sterile fluid: spinal fluid, pericardial fluid, joint fluid. Swab only has a small amount of specimen. Tissue allows us to differentiate disease with invasion versus contamination from the environment. Important that tissue is minced not ground as can kill the fungus as destroy all. Take the processed specimen and place on a glass slide. Common stains used to help visualize presence of fungi: Dissolves protein (e. g. keratin) improves visualization of fungi. Calcofluor is a detergent that fluoresces chitin. Enables more rapid microscopy and easier detection than koh only. Use variety of agar plates to grow fungi: Selective plates contain antibiotics that suppress the growth of certain fungi and bacteria. Important to grow slower and more fastidious fungi that would be masked by fast growers. Add antibiotics to prevent the growth of bacteria.
