Microbiology and Virology

Clinical Services

The department handles approximately 200,000 samples a year. The services provided include routine bacteriology, anaerobic bacteriology, fungal culture, routine serology and viral serology. The department is equipped with CO2 incubator, Class II safety cabinets, five head, double head, immuno-fluorescence and video microscopes and semi-automated as well as fully automated Enzyme Immuno Assay (EIA) analyzers. Most of our viral serology is performed by EIA. The department also provides an automated blood culture service.

The department has acquired equipment for automated TB culture and Flowcytometery and plans to start these services in the near future.

Quality Control

The department is one of the few laboratories in Pakistan that participate in WHO-Regional External Quality Control Assurance Scheme (REQAS) and NIH-National External Quality Assurance Program (NEQAP).

Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (GLASS) Center

The department was designated as WHO/National Institute of Health (NIH) GLASS center in 2016, and has also been working closely with the UK based Fleming fund program for the last two years to combat the ever increasing threat of antimicrobial resistance.

HIV Sentinel Surveillance Center

The department runs a National Institute of Health (NIH) designated, WHO approved, Reference Center, providing screening and confirmatory HIV tests. The department is a preferred partner for all research and surveillance activities funded by UNAIDS/WHO, NIH and Ministry of Health Punjab. The department has made significant contributions to most national HIV surveillance projects.

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Unit

The department has a fully functional PCR facility for conventional as well as real-time PCR. Current workload is approximately 200 samples per month.

Teaching

The department is actively involved in teaching of medical as well as para-medical students. The courses taught include Diploma for Medical Laboratory Assistants, B.S. in Medical Laboratory Technology, MBBS 3rd year, Diploma in Clinical Pathology and M. Phil in Microbiology. The department also contributes to the intensive courses for FCPS part-I students held by College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan.

Research and Publications

The department of Microbiology is actively involved in research. The department contributes significantly to various conferences, symposia and courses, and also provides internships to students of various Microbiology courses from all over Punjab.