ALL of the suggestions this far are good ones. I have even had acid fast bacilli growing in a water deionizer. Acid fast bacteria are not uncommon to tap water. slides must be stained individually, flooding them in a horizontal position. Do NOT stain them all together in a coplin jar as the stain solution may become contaminated with organisms from a very postive control. I f you use a heated method, heat the stain and then flood the slides.
good luck. this problem can often be perplexing to resolve.


Vinnie Della Speranza
Manager for Anatomic Pathology Services
Medical University of South Carolina
165 Ashley Avenue  Suite 309
Charleston, SC 29425
Ph: 843-792-6353
fax: 843-792-8974

>>> Noreen Gilman  01/03/02 01:49PM >>>
Hello everyone in histoland. I've got an unusual problem and I hope you guys can help me.
My pathologist claims that when we do an AFB, some of the bacillus from the positive control "jumps" onto the patient slide and contaminates it. He claims he sees stray bacillus on the slides surrounding the control tissue, and he thinks he see them on the patient slide as well. I have tried several ways of doing this stain and at first thought the tubing on our sink was contaminated. We changed the tubing and used only distilled water, and he still insists they are there. I have never had a problem like this before. I'm at my wits end. Any suggestion are very welcome.
Noreen

Noreen S. Gilman, HT (ASCP) CLS
Broward General Medical Center
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 3316
954-355-5592 Phone
954-355-4139 Fax
ngilman@nbhd.org