Lecture 6: Public Health Labs Flashcards
Each country in CA with a population of _____ is required to have the services of a PHL.
> 50,000
How many autonomous county and city PHLs does CA have?
30
What is the second largest PHL in CA?
OCPHL
Compare clinical/sentinel labs and public health labs.
What are the various entities that regulate PHLs?
- Certified by CMA - Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA)
- Laboratory Response Network (LRN) Level B Reference Laboratory
- Registered with CDC Select Agent Program
- Permitted by APHIS for Transport of Select Agents
- Accredited by ELAP (Environmental Water Testing)
- All testing personnel are PHM certified by the CDPH
- Director and assistant director are board certified as a High-complexity Clinical Laboratory Director
What do PHLs do (i.e. what is their goal)?
To protect and improve the health of Orange County residents, in collaboration with our system partners, by providing essential laboratory services in support of public health through quality, timely and accurate test results
Where is the main OCPHL main clinical laboratory?
17th Street Complex in Santa Ana
Where is the OC water quality laboratory?
Newport Beach
How many staff members does the OCPHL have between both sites?
50 staff members
Who are the partners of the OCPHL?
- HCA clinics and programs
- Community clinicians/providers including hospital and clinical laboratories
- Other: coroner, animal care, OC public works
What are the departments of OCPHL?
- Central processing/media room
- Bacteriology/bioterrorism
- TB/parasitology/mycology
- Virology/serology
- Molecular
- Water quality lab
What is the function of central processing?
All specimens that come to the lab go through it
- Ensures specimen quality
- Process specimens prior to sending them to departments for testing
What is the function of the media room?
- Supports lab testing by making media and reagents
- Discard biohazardous waste
- Maintains chemical inventory
What is the function of the bacteriology/bioterrorism department?
- Find, isolate & identify bacteria
- Surveillance for enteric pathogens
- Clearance specimens for patients that work in sensitive occupations
- Food testing for implicated food in an outbreak
What is the function of the TB (mycobacteriology) department?
- Find, isolate, and identify mycobacteria
- TB drug susceptibility – primary and secondary line drug treatment
What is the function of the parasitology/mycology department?
- Identify parasites in stool or blood smears
- Screen and confirm Candida auris in patient samples
- Find, isolate, and identify Fungus
What is the function of the virology/serology department?
- Identifying viral infections in patient specimens
- Serology: detecting antibodies or antigens in patient specimens to aid in diagnosis
- Rabies testing in animals
What is the only animal in OC that is positive for rabies?
Bats
What is the function of the molecular department?
- Sequencing to ID bacteria, fungus, and mycobacteria
- Norovirus genotyping
- Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS)
What is the function of the water quality laboratory?
- Performs recreational bacterial water quality analysis on 150 shoreline sites in OC
- SARS-CoV-2 detection in wastewater
What is a PHM and what do they do?
- Professional laboratorians who specialize in detecting, isolating, and identifying the microorganisms that are associated with infectious and communicable diseases
- Perform analyses on specimens from humans, as well as from water supplies, food and the environment
- Provide laboratory support for the surveillance, control and prevention of communicable diseases and other health hazards in the community
How do you become a PHM?
- Must be a PHM to work in a PH Lab as testing personnel
- There are both academic (Bachelor’s) and course requirements to qualify to a PHM Trainee
