Immunological Techniques/Assays
Viral Culture & Lab Techniques
Viral Infections/Diseases
Autoimmune Disease Serology
Fungal Serology & Immunodiffusion
100
This assay takes an antigenic substance and links it in a lattice formation which results in visible particle clumping.
What is Agglutination/Hemagglutination?
100
This is the term that describes the degenerative changes in cell morphology from a virus infecting a hosts cells. (ex. shrinking, swelling, rounding of cells)
What is cytopathogenic effect (CPE)
100
This virus is the MOST important cause of severe respiratory infection in infants and young children.
100% of children by age 2 experience this virus.
What is Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)?
100
Anti-Smooth muscle antibodies or ASMA is a indirect immunofluorescence test that uses this as the antigen for the test.
(Reference image below)
What is tissue of a rat stomach?
100
This is the most common infection in immuno compromised patients and causes infections in the Lungs, CNS & brain.
Symptoms: Cough, SOB, Chest pain, fever, nausea & vomiting.
What is Cryptococcus neoformans?
200
This assay type uses a monoclonal antibody conjugated to a fluorescent dye (FITC) and can be done by a Direct or an Indirect method.
What is Immunofluorescent assay?
200
Given the following image what type of staining pattern is present?
What is centromere staining pattern?
200
This virus often presents with a red rash that starts on the face and then spreads to the trunk region of the patient. This virus can have serious complications that can cause Encephalitis, arthritis & neuritis.
What is Rubella?
200
Given the following nDNA test determine if this shows a positive or a negative result. What feature supports your answer.
What is a negative result?
The kinetoplast in the image is NOT fluorescing which is indicative of a negative result.
200
This fungi is common to the Ohio river valley and is often asymptomatic in most people but can cause mild to severe respiratory infections in immuno compromised patients.
What is Histoplasma capsulatum?
300
This assay uses BHK cells in a genetically engineered cell line to detect the HSV-1 & HSV-2 viruses.
**BONUS**: If you can give the full name of this assay double the points!
What is the ELVIS assay?
Enzyme-Linked Virus Inducible System
300
Name 2 of the 4 components of viral transport medium.
**BONUS** : If you can name all 4 double the points!
What is Hanks balanced salt solution, proteinaceous supplement, antimicrobials & pH indicator?
300
List 3 of the 6 viruses from the Picornaviridae family.
**BONUS** : If you can list more than 3 viruses, gain 100 pts for each extra listed!
What is Enterovirus, Poliovirus, Coxsackie virus, Echovirus, Parechovirus, Rhinovirus?
300
The speckled pattern of the ANA test is commonly associated with these diseases (Name 2 of the 3 diseases).
What is SLE, MCTD, Sjogren's, others?
300
Given the following precipitation reaction image determine what type of reaction is present.
What is a Partial Identity reaction?
400
This assay can detect and distinguish many different antibodies simultaneously using various colored beads which correspond to a particular antigen.
What is the Multiplex Micro-Bead System?
400
A bone marrow specimen is to be sent to the serology laboratory for further testing. What type of transport should be taken into consideration for the specimen and explain your reasoning.
What is in a sterile container?
Sterile specimens: Transported in a sterile container (ex. blood, CSF, bone marrow & urine)
Non-sterile specimens: Transported in viral transport medium. (ex. Respiratory, swabs, & tissues)
400
This virus often presents with fever, headache, loss of appetite, nausea, & vomiting and in 15% of cases can progress into a 2nd toxic phase. This phase often causes high fever, jaundice, bleeding, and death.
What is Yellow fever?
400
**DAILY DOUBLE**
This assessment for rheumatoid arthritis has a 96% specificity for the disease and is used to monitor the effectiveness of treatment. If combined with RF tests the specificity is 98-100%.
What is Anti-cyclic Citrullinated Peptide (anti-CCP)?
400
Given the following precipitation reaction image determine what type of reaction is present.
What is Non-Identity Reaction?
500
Given the following table determine if the absorbance readings are from a competitive or Non-competitive assay and if the patient has a positive or negative result.
What is competitive solid-phase enzyme immunoassay?
Patient 1: Positive (+)
500
Given the following images describe the CPE seen in each and state the viruses that are most commonly seen with each type.
Image 1 (B): Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV); large syncytia.
Image 2: Herpes simplex virus; large rounded cells.
500
Glomerulonephritis is the destruction of the basement membrane of the kidneys from circulating AG/AB complexes. What group of organisms is the typical culprit for these type of infections and does this happen during or after the infection.
What is Group A Streptococci (GAS)?
Glomerulonephritis is a Post-streptococcal disease.
500
List advantages and or disadvantages of using HEp-2 cells for ANA testing. (List 3 total either advantages or disadvantages)
Advantages:
What is monolayer arrangement, Large nucleus, allows for distinction of patterns, is considered the gold standard (inexpensive, easy to perform high sensitivity/Specificity)?
Disadvantages:
What is labor intensive, pattern subjectivity/interpretation, requires highly skilled technologists.
500
**DAILY DOUBLE**
What is the main purpose of fungal gel immunodiffusion.
What is the differentiation of antibodies?
600
Calculate the sensitivity of a given lab assay given the following information.
True positives: 90
False Negatives: 16
What is 85% sensitivity?
600
A medical lab scientist was viewing cell culture tubes for an unknown virus and was struggling to identify distorted CPE. What is another system the scientist could use to identify the unknown virus that does NOT involve reading CPE and is considered to have better sensitivity with rapid detection.
What is the Shell vial system?
600
A person with this viral infection will produce the Anti-HBc (core) IgM in a acute, chronic or resolved case of this infection but cannot produce it from the vaccine.
What is Hepatitis?
600
This is a type of antiphospholipid antibody which is often found in autoimmune diseases, infections and can cause recurrent pregnancy loss, deep vein and arterial thrombosis. 40-60% of SLE patients are positive for this.
What is Anti-Cardiolipin (ACL)?
600
The image below is from a gel immunodiffusion plate and represents a positive reaction. The line indicated by the red arrow is normally referred to as what.
What is an Identity Line?
700
**DAILY DOUBLE** (2 part question)
A pregnant woman who was recently diagnosed with rubella has returned to her doctor to finish out her series of serological testing.
Question 1: Should the lab have setup a qualitative or quantitative determination on the mother to determine the risk to the baby?
The lab analyzes the convalescent sample to determine if her child has congenital rubella. Looking at the following table state if there is a significant difference and what should be reported.
Question 1: What is a quantitative determination?
Question 2: What is a significant difference (4-fold) is present; 1:160?
700
A college age student went to the emergency room after a few days with a high fever, sore throat, rash, and was feeling extremely fatigued. Upon examination the ER doctor suspects infectious mononucleosis and requests viral testing. Being an astute medical lab scientist what assay would you setup to further the diagnosis and why.
What is the Seradyn Color Slide II assay?
Infectious mononucleosis is BEST diagnosed by antibody detection.
700
An HIV patient recently received a blood transfusion and began to show mono-like symptoms with a high fever, muscle pain and fatigue. The physician orders a variety of tests. After 2 weeks the cell culture tubes are still negative for any growth. Needing a diagnosis sooner, the tech setups up a set of shell vials and within 16 hours gets an identification. What is the identity of this organism.
What is Cytomegalovirus (CMV)?
700
A patient presents to the doctor after having severely swollen joints, a fever, feeling fatigued, and struggling to do day to day activities. The following image shows the serological results ordered by the physician. What autoimmune disease do the clinical signs and lab results correlate to, and is the result positive or negative.
What is Rheumatoid arthiritis (RA)?
RF Latex Agglutination Test: Positive (+)
700
The following image shows a immunochromatography/Lateral flow test strip. Identify all parts of the image.
Key (Top to bottom): Crypto antigen in specimen, labeled anti crypto Ab, unlabeled anti-crypto Ab, animal anti-IgG.