Laboratory Diagnosis of Fungal Infections: A Manual for Processing Specimens, Microscopy and Culture Techniques

Laboratory Diagnosis of Fungal Infections: A Manual for Processing Specimens, Microscopy and Culture Techniques This manual describes briefly how to make a laboratory diagnosis of suspected fungal diseases. The diagnosis begins after receiving a good quality clinical specimen, then how to process it and or store it, taking into account basic safety procedures. This manual- unlike others which take diseases or names of fungi as topics- it takes the clinical specimens as the subject for analysis. Subsequently, the manual explains the diagnostic process step by step with help of schematic charts and a number of macroscopic and microscopic illustrations and pictures. As a short handbook, this effort enables practioners, laboratory technicians and researchers to accomplish laboratory diagnosis and identification of unknown fungus to the Genus level. However, we explained methods to reaching identification to species levels to some important fungal groups namely: dermatophytes, Candida and Aspergillus species. Details for species identification can be found elsewhere. When you know the genus or you have doubts between two or three genera, then you can find details in many textbooks and web sites. For this purpose we have provided references and websites at the end of the book.