Wednesday 11 July 2012

Your Health Meter – Microbiology Testing

People are very health conscious these days. They wish to stay fit and healthy all the time. To know whether you are healthy or not, you must get yourself tested. Undergoing a laboratory test would let you know how healthy you are. There are many laboratories in and around the country that take up these tests. In order to get yourself checked, you would have to give the urine, blood or sputum to be tested depending on the kind of test you are taking up. Once you give a sample of the same, the professionals in the laboratory perform various tests on it and then give you the results in a particular span of time.

A microbiology laboratory is the one where microscopic organisms such as virus, bacteria, fungi, protozoan etc are studied and tested on. This kind of laboratory would be involved in activities like research and development, microbiology testing, analysis, assays, experiments and research studies. It is capable of determining how one’s body is working. This is why many people go for such tests in these laboratories. Another major component of these laboratories is antimicrobial testing. The objective of this test is similar to all that is stated above but is more peculiar to what its name suggests.

An antimicrobial in general terms is a substance that is used to kill or prevent the growth of the microorganisms. These microorganisms may include bacteria, fungi or protozoan. The most commonly known antimicrobial is an antibiotic. It is a substance released by a microorganism that does not allow another microorganism to grow. The medical science uses this technique to cure many microbial attacks on a human body. They are helpful in treating diseases like viral, pneumonia, cancer, malaria, tuberculosis, etc.

Numerous laboratories perform tests on these antimicrobials to know their effect on a human body. The services provided by these laboratories include the following:-

• Antimicrobial/Preservative Effectiveness Testing such as USP 51, USP 61, USP 62, Ph.Eur. 5.1.3, JP (12), etc.

• ASTM Antimicrobial Assays including Disinfection efficacy.

• ASTM, AOAC

• Method development and validation

• AATCC methods

• International standards

• Custom studies and method development

• Endotoxin testing

• Water systems like USP <1227>

There are a number of laboratories where you can get these tests done. If you wish to know where to find them, you can either ask your friends or relatives to give you references or you can search for them online. Make sure you select a laboratory that is close to your place as it would be beneficial for you to take these tests regularly in due course of time. The accuracy of the tests is the most important criteria while selecting a laboratory for antimicrobial testing. So ensure that the one that you are visiting has good reviews and feedback from the people who have already taken up tests with them. Once you pick on the one that you wish to get the tests done from, you can consult them for your requirements and get them done once you are satisfied with all the details you have obtained.

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