| A |
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Acinetobacter baumannii
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Key: Along with companion smear G24 for Gram stain, this sputum was sent as a challenge to category A and B laboratories to assess their abilities to (a) recognize when sputum is satisfactory for culture based on interpretation of cellular components and (b) isolate and identify Acinetobacter baumannii and report antimicrobial susceptibilities.
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Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans
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This isolate was sent as a challenge to category A laboratories with the request to identify the organism only. The specimen was a pure culture of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, ATCC 29522. Eleven of thirteen (85%) reference laboratories correctly identified the isolate to species and thus this send-out was suitable for grading.
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Arcanobacterium haemolyticum
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KEY: CHALLENGE REQUIRED ISOLATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF ARCANOBACTERIUM HAEMOLYTICUM FROM A WOUND SENT TO CATEGORY A LABORATORIES. GRAM SMEAR RESULTS INDICATED THE PRESENCE OF TWO MORPHOTYPES.
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| B |
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| C |
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Cryptococcus neoformans
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KEY: SIMULATED CSF, FROM A 50-YEAR OLD MALE WITH LYMPHOMA WHO HAD UNDERGONE CHEMOTHERAPY, WAS SENT TO CATEGORY A LABORATORIES TO SET UP AND REPORT AS PER THEIR LABORATORY PROTOCOL, CONTAINED A PURE GROWTH OF CRYPTOCOCCUS NEOFORMANS.
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| K |
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Kingella kingae
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This isolate (ATCC 23330) was submitted on a culti-loop, and sent to category "A" laboratories as an identification challenge. The history stated that this organism had been recovered from a blood culture of a patient diagnosed with endocarditis.
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| nasty bacteria |
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Cryptococcus neoformans
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KEY: SIMULATED CSF, FROM A 50-YEAR OLD MALE WITH LYMPHOMA WHO HAD UNDERGONE CHEMOTHERAPY, WAS SENT TO CATEGORY A LABORATORIES TO SET UP AND REPORT AS PER THEIR LABORATORY PROTOCOL, CONTAINED A PURE GROWTH OF CRYPTOCOCCUS NEOFORMANS.
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csf
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Vibrio parahaemolyticus
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KEY: IDENTIFICATION CHALLENGE OF A STOOL-ISOLATE FROM A PATIENT WITH DIARRHEA AND A HISTORY OF RECENT CONSUMPTION OF SHELLFISH SENT TO CATEGORY A LABORATORIES.
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| P |
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Porphyromonas gingivalis
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KEY: ISOLATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF ANAEROBIC ORGANISMS CHALLENGE SENT TO “A” LABORATORIES. CRITIQUE REFERS TO 1988 NOMENCLATURE CHANGE.
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| S |
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Streptococcus iniae
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This organism was submitted to "A" laboratories as a blood isolate from a woman suffering from cellulitis. The significance of the observation of cellulitis was that this would be considered the primary source of the invasive infection.
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| V |
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Vibrio parahaemolyticus
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KEY: IDENTIFICATION CHALLENGE OF A STOOL-ISOLATE FROM A PATIENT WITH DIARRHEA AND A HISTORY OF RECENT CONSUMPTION OF SHELLFISH SENT TO CATEGORY A LABORATORIES.
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