Head: Daniel Krsek, M.A.

Established on June 10, 1992

Electron Microscopy (EM) allows rapid detection of the cause of infection, i.e. viruses, bacteria, Mycoplasma, and fungi. Electron microscopy is very useful for the initial identification of unknown viral agents in particular outbreaks and for testing the viral safety of biological products and/or the cells used to produce them. After a short processing procedure, EM is ready for rapid identification and differential diagnosis of a wide variety of infectious agents, with no need for specific reagents and with the results available as early as 60 minutes after the collection of a clinical specimen.

• All viruses present in a given specimen can be detected at a time. EM is of utmost importance for the detection of viruses that are difficult or even impossible to culture and for the detection of new viruses or antigenic variants and last but not least, for the detection of multiple infections.
• Viruses can be detected in clinical specimens of different origin such as the cerebrospinal fluid, blood, skin lesions, nasopharyngeal discharge, eye lavage fluid, stool extracts, urine, various lavage fluids and post-mortem specimens, tissue culture, etc.
• Guidance and consulting provided to other EM laboratories in health care and public health settings. Pregraduate and postgraduate training.

External quality assessment: Regular participation in the External Quality Assessment Scheme (EQAS), EM Virus Diagnosis, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany.