Don Hammer suggests that I should have made myself a lot clearer on a couple
of points.

Afraid I was writing with restrained anger about a situation I despair of
doing anything about. Of course pathologists and technologists should not be
choking on formaldehyde when they gross. But in the large number of
laboratories I've worked in, no more than a third had adequate ventilation,
and there seems to be nothing that can be done about it. I've often had the
distinct feeling that the pathologist would be putting his job on the line by
requesting adequate facilities.

About stains for Helicobacter pylori, I have not yet seen a paper directly
comparing simple Giemsa-type stains (such as Diff-Quik II) with more complex
silver impregnation techniques. My personal experience leads me to believe
that they are of equal efficacy in finding Helicobacter in gastric biopsy
specimens, but a fairly large formal study would need to be done to settle
the issue. As far as I know, this study hasn't been done.

Bob Richmond
Samurai Pathologist
Knoxville TN