Guidelines for transporting specimens include:

1) Transport within 2 hours of collecting a specimen

2) Transport in leakproof specimen containers and sealable leakproof bags

3) Transport specimen in the syringe used to collect it

4) Refrigerate all specimens prior to transport

The optimal time to collect a sputum pecimen for acid-fast bacilli (AFB) testing to rule out TB would be:

A hospital has hired a new manager of the Microbiology section of the Laboratory. During the initial discussion with the manager about the Infection Prevention and Control program, the IP stresses the importance of collaboration between the departments in reducing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Of the choices below, which activity will best meet this goal?

An IP is conducting an educational session to help the nursing staff understand infectious disease transmission. She explains that the initial element in virulence is the ability of an organism to survive in the external environment during transit between hosts. What is the second element of virulence?

Western blot testing for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is used to detect: