Medical Laboratory

Science
 Importance
• A major threat to the existence of mankind is disease. Disease outcome
can be fatal, leading to death in many cases. Man over the years has
sought different ways to combating this threat, recording successes in
many areas. However, one element that is relevant in the fight against a
disease is the knowledge of the cause of the disease, as one can hardly
contend with what is unknown
 Medical Laboratory Science
• Medical Laboratory Science is concerned with the analysis of clinical
specimen (urine, blood, stool, peritoneal fluid, synovial fluid e.t.c) with the
aim of identifying the cause/s of disease conditions.

• It is pivotal to the effective management of diseases as reports shows that

over 60 percent of decision relating to hospital admissions, prescribed
medicals and discharge of patients depends on laboratory data.
• One trained to perform the function above is regarded as a Medical
Laboratory Scientist or a Clinical Laboratory Scientist
 Specialties
• Medical Laboratory Science has many specialties.
• They include
• Medical Microbiology,
• Chemical Pathology,
• Hematology and Blood transfusion,
• Histopathology and Immunology.
• Different specialists work together providing valuable data for
management of patient.
 Medical Laboratory Science
• Definition:
Laboratory is a place that is equipped with different instruments, equipments
and chemicals (reagents) etc., for performing experimental works, research
activities and investigative procedures.
 Medical laboratory
• Medical laboratory is one part of the laboratory that is equipped with various
biomedical instruments, equipments, materials and reagents (chemicals) for
performing different laboratory investigative activities by using biological
specimens (whole blood, serum, plasma, urine, stool, etc).
 Classification of medical laboratories

• The world Health Organization (WHO) lists four kinds of levels of

laboratories based on their biosafety.
 Basic laboratory level I
• Basic laboratory level I is the simplest kind and adequate for work with
organisms which have low risk to the individual laboratory personnel as
well as to the members of the community.
• Such organisms are categorized under Risk Group I by WHO.
• These organisms are unlikely to cause human diseases. Example, food
spoilage bacteria, common molds and yeasts.
 Basic Laboratory level II
• Basic laboratory level II is suitable for work with organisms that predispose
to moderate risk to the laboratory worker and a limited risk to the members
of the community.
• Such organisms are categorized under Risk Group II by WHO.
• They can cause serious human diseases but not serious hazards due to the
availability of effective preventive measures and treatment
• Example, staphylococci, streptococci, entero bacteria except Salmonella
typhi and others. Such laboratory should be clean, provide enough space,
have adequate sanitary facilities and equipped with autoclave.
 Containment laboratory (Level III)
• Containment laboratory is more advanced and it is used for work with
infectious organisms that present a high risk to the laboratory personnel
but a lower risk to the community.
• Such organisms are categorized under Risk Group III by WHO. Example,
Tubercle bacilli, Salmonella typhi, HIV, Yersina and others. The principle is
to remove from the basic laboratory those organisms and activities which
are particularly hazardous.
• They are easily transmitted through airborne, ingestion of contaminated
food or water and paranterally.
• Such laboratory should be a separate room with controlled access by
authorized staff.
• It should also be fitted with microbial safety cabinet.
 Maximum containment laboratory
• Maximum containment laboratory is intended for work with viruses, which
predispose to a high risk for both laboratory personnel and the community.
Such organisms are categorized under Risk Group IV by WHO.
• Example, Small pox, Ebola, Lassa fever and others. Most of these organisms
cause serious disease and readily transmitted from on person to another.
• These laboratories are usually a separate building with strictly controlled
access.
Duties
▪To support primary health care in investigating, controlling and
preventing major diseases in the country.
▪ Promoting health care by integrated health education
 Main activities are to:

• Investigate by referral or testing on site, important diseases and

health problems affecting the local community. Such investigations
usually include bacterial diseases, parasitic diseases and other causes
of illness.
• Assist health care worker in deciding the severity of a patient’s
conditions.
• Collect and refer specimens for testing to the district laboratory.
• Notify the district hospital at an early stage of any laboratory results of
public health importance and send specimens for confirmatory tests.
• Screen pregnant women for anemia, proteinuria, malaria, and refer
serum for antibody testing.
• Promote health cares and assists in community health education
• Promote health cares and assists in community health education
• Keep records, which can be used by health authorities in health
planning and for epidemiological purposes.
• Keep an inventory of stocks and order supplies.
• Send an informative monthly report to the district hospital laboratory.
 DIAGNOSIS OF INFECTIOUS
DISEASES
• Effective management of infectious diseases depends largely on the timely
and accurate diagnosis of its etiologic agents.
• This can be achieved by the use of one or a combination of the following
laboratory methods
• Microscopy: This involves the use of microscope in viewing clinical
specimenin other to reveal the presence of inherent micro-organism that
may be the cause of disease.
 DIAGNOSIS OF INFECTIOUS
DISEASES
Serological Technique:.
This relates to procedures that detects specific antigens or antibodies of
pathogens in clinical specimens of patients.
Cultural method:
This employs the use of appropriate culture media in growing and identifying
the pathogen in the laboratory.
Biochemical tests:
These are tests used to confirm the identity of pathogens in the Laboratory.
Common biochemical test used in the laboratory include citrate utilization test,
coagulase, catalase, indole tests, urease test, oxidase tests and vogue-
proskauer tests.
 DIAGNOSIS OF INFECTIOUS
DISEASES
• Nucleic acid detection (Polymerase Chain Reaction): This is an
amplification technique that allows the detection and selective
replication of a targeted portion of a genome. Basically, the procedure
sets out to amplify small quantity of microbes into several million
copies, followed by the detection of nucleic acid on a specialized
medium.
• It is a very sensitive diagnostic method, and often regarded as gold
standard for diagnosing several infectious diseases.