title: Assessment of microbiological diagnostic procedures for respiratory specimens from cystic fibrosis patients in German laboratories by use of a questionnaire.
abstract: Respiratory specimens from cystic fibrosis (CF) patients challenge microbiological laboratories with their complexity of pathogens and atypical variants. We evaluated the diagnostic procedures in German laboratories by use of a questionnaire. Although most laboratories followed guidelines, some of them served only a small number of patients, while others did not use the recommended selective agars to culture the particular CF-relevant species.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Microbiology, University Hospital of Münster, Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Häfner
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: Barbara C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Kahl
mesh_terms: D003550:Cystic Fibrosis / Q000150:complications*; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D007753:Laboratories; D008828:Microbiological Techniques / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires