[The current status of clinical laboratories on mycological examination]

A questionnaire survey to determine the current status of clinical laboratories on mycological examination was performed in May 2002, and the results compared with data obtained in December 1994. One hundred and sixty seven answers were received in this survey. The results indicated that the average number of medical technologists in a microbiological laboratory was one for every 168 hospital beds, and the number of clinical specimens examined daily by each technologist was 16 (bacterial) and 3.4 (mycological). The rate of laboratories prepared a specialized technologist to handle mycological examinations was 10% in both surveys, and laboratories which had a system for mycological examination order were 23.4% (this survey) and 14.1% (prior). The problems in routine mycological examination were: identification of non-sporulating filamentous fungi, 69.9%; identification of the fungi not previously encountered, 67.5%; and judgement of pathogenicity of the isolates, 66.9%. Sixty four percent of technologists desired a lecture on the subject of dermatophytes, techniques of mycological examination, dematiaceous fungi, and moniliaceous fungi other than Aspergillus. The above results indicate to establish a continuous postgraduate education system and reference center readily available to a medical technologist.