Canadian Medical Guide > Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment > Investigative Techniques > Clinical Laboratory Techniques > Microbiological Techniques Terms and Definitions

Microbiological Techniques

	Bacteriological Techniques
	Colony Count, Microbial - Enumeration by direct count of viable, isolated bacterial, archaeal, or fungal cells or spores capable of growth on solid culture media. Each colony (i.e., microbial colony-forming unit) represents the progeny of a single cell in the original inoculum. The method is used routinely by environmental microbiologists for quantifying organisms in air, food, and water; by clinicians for measuring patients' microbial load; and in antimocrobial drug testing.
	Microbial Sensitivity Tests - Any tests that demonstrate the relative efficacy of different chemotherapeutic agents against specific microorganisms (i.e., bacteria, fungi, viruses).
	Mycological Typing Techniques - Procedures for identifying types and strains of fungi.
	Serial Passage - Inoculation of a series of animals or in vitro tissue with an infectious bacterium or virus, as in VIRULENCE studies and the development of vaccines.
	Viral Load - The quantity of measurable virus in the blood. Change in viral load, measured in plasma, is used as a surrogate marker in HIV disease progression.
	Virus Cultivation
	Virus Inactivation - Inactivation of viruses by non-immune related techniques. They include extremes of pH, HEAT treatment, ultraviolet radiation, IONIZING RADIATION; DESICCATION; ANTISEPTICS; DISINFECTANTS; organic solvents, and DETERGENTS.

Microbiological Techniques Medical Definitions and Terms