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Gram Staining: a Comparison of Two Automated Systems and Manual Staining.
- Source :
-
Journal of clinical microbiology [J Clin Microbiol] 2020 Nov 18; Vol. 58 (12). Date of Electronic Publication: 2020 Nov 18 (Print Publication: 2020). - Publication Year :
- 2020
-
Abstract
- Various Gram staining automated systems are available to accelerate and standardize the staining process, but a systematic comparison of different systems is largely lacking. The objective of this study was to evaluate two devices in comparison to manual Gram staining. Clinical samples ( n = 500; University Hospital Münster, Germany; May to June 2020) were simultaneously Gram stained manually and with two automated Gram stainers (Previ Color Gram, bioMérieux, and ColorAX2, Axonlab). The quality was assessed based on four criteria: (i) homogeneous staining of bacteria/fungi, (ii) uniform staining of the background, (iii) absence of staining artifacts, and (iv) congruency between culture and microscopy. Each criterion was rated with 0 (absence) or 1 (presence) point to calculate a quality score (0 to 4 points). The costs for each staining procedure were calculated based on consumables and hands-on time (applying the average wage of a laboratory technician in the public service for Germany and the United States). The mean (± standard deviation [SD]) quality scores were comparable for manual staining (3.06 ± 0.91) and Previ Color Gram (3.04 ± 0.90; P = 0.6), while significantly lower scores were achieved by ColorAX2 (2.57 ± 1.09; P < 0.0001). The total cost per Gram stain was €1.13/$1.34 for Previ Color Gram, €0.80/$0.83 for manual, and €0.60/$0.71 for ColorAX2, respectively. The quality and costs per slide vary significantly between instruments of different manufacturers.<br /> (Copyright © 2020 American Society for Microbiology.)
- Subjects :
- Germany
Humans
Staining and Labeling
Bacteria
Fungi
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1098-660X
- Volume :
- 58
- Issue :
- 12
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Journal of clinical microbiology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 32938735
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.01914-20