Our laboratory is recognized by the ministry of health “department for medical laboratories” for mycology. The laboratory is authorized by the iqc institute for supervision and quality in accordance with quality regulation iso 9001:2008.
In the laboratory we conduct mycological tests for identifying various dermatophytes, yeasts and molds using standard methods.
The standard method is utilized in two ways:
- Direct smear
- Tissue culture
1. Direct Smear
In the direct smear test we check if there are fungal elements.
Half of the sample is placed on glass and droplets of KOH (potassium hydroxide) in a concentration of 10-30% are added in order to dissolve the sample and not the hyphae (the hyphaes are liable to be destroyed if the petri dish is left with the fluid KOH for more than 30 minutes).
2. Tissue Culture
The tissue culture is conducted by soaking the remaining portion of the sample (the first half of the sample was taken for the Direct Sample) an implanted in a feeding bed/base, usually a feeding bed called sabourou dextrose agar is used with and without silcoheximide and actidion (???), in order to grow various molds.
After the implanting of the remainder of the sample in the petri dish the feeding bed is inserted into the incubator at a temperature of 29 degrees Celcius for 2-4 weeks. This relatively long amount of time is intended to allow particular fungi that grow slowly adequate time to do so. After four weeks it is very rare that a pathogenic fungus of any kind will grow if it hasn’t done so by this point.
Following mycological test results that don’t line up with clinical findings, when a not insignificant portion of the incidents receive what proves in hindsight to be a false negative, the patients are sent again for a second test. Some of these may once again return results with false negatives. As a result, in these cases doctors are obligated to refer these HMO clients to the various mycological laboratories and hospitals for another mycological sampling, followed by another check-up by a doctor at a hospital. This is a scenario that involves meaningfully high costs to both the HMO as well as to the patient in financial terms as well as in terms of lost work time and effort to track down results.
Different mycological results are unsatisfactory to many doctors, especially results from the nails and the hair (because of frequent technical difficulties), both because of technical problems in the immersion of the sample and because of the technical problems with the laboratory. To address this we have established two sampling centers, one in the Sharon area (Netanya) and one in the Tel Aviv area (Ramat Aviv Mall). We are also planning to open additional sampling centers in additional areas in order to provide a solution for patients that living elsewhere throughout the country.
The staff that conducts the mycological sampling is experienced and has undergone a basic and professional training in this specific field.
Our services include the computerized provision of test results. This includes the option for access to our results databank via our secure server in coordination with your referring doctor.