A subset of bacteria that can have severe consequences
Anaerobic bacteria constitute a huge and heterogeneous group of microorganisms that are susceptible to oxygen. Many species belonging to the human normal microflora and are important for our well-being. Under certain conditions (underlying disease, trauma, poor blood supply, or post-surgery infections), when anaerobic bacteria get the opportunity to spread to and thrive at the “wrong” body sites, they may cause severe infections, requiring rapid diagnosis and treatment.
Mistakes in the sampling of specimens sent to clinical bacteriology laboratories can cause pre-analytical errors, resulting in defective diagnosis and delayed/wrong/no treatment of the patient. Delayed or inappropriate treatment may lead to increased morbidity and mortality. Resistance to antimicrobial substances among anaerobic bacteria is increasing.
A looming knowledge gap on anaerobic bacteria at clinical laboratories and other health care establishments
A great part of active microbiologists with proficiency in anaerobes at clinical laboratories are reaching retiring age at present and in the near future. The skills in anaerobic bacteriology among clinicians and microbiologists at clinical laboratories need to be well-kept-up and shifted over to younger colleagues. Little is done at the basic medical education programs to fill this gap of knowledge. The responsibility to secure that knowledge in anaerobic bacteriology is preserved lays upon each lab. A need analysis, performed during 2017 in Sweden, verified that education in anaerobic bacteriology is wanted among the staff at clinical laboratories.
Dianox develops sought-after vocational training on anaerobes
As anaerobes are unable to survive in the presence of air, it is important also for other health care professions to be updated on the topic. To meet this medical and educational need, online education programs and face-to-face courses will be developed for different medical staff groups (nurses, clinicians and lab-personnel). The courses will be settled in close contact with the target groups to enable that the programs get the special design required for each profession. The end-users of the education programs will be well up-dated to a reasonable cost.
Over-booked face-to-face courses in recent years have confirmed the crucial need of education on the topic at clinical laboratories. The first online-course on anaerobic bacteriology by Dianox was launched by October 2019.
