Efficacy of Iodine Glycerol versus Lactophenol Cotton Blue for Identification of Fungal Elements in the Clinical Laboratory
Microscopic observation of wet mounts remains the most widely used method in clinical microbiology laboratories for identifying filamentous fungi based on their characteristic morphological features. The standard technique for the microscopic examination of fungal cultures is the lactophenol cotton blue (LPCB) slide tease method or the adhesive tape method. It ascertains the significance of an isolate which may otherwise be presumed as a mere insignificant artifact. However, the phenol component of lactophenol cotton blue is carcinogenic and hence it is imperative to search an alternate staining reagent (Rodriguez Tudela et al. 1991) Lactophenol cotton blue is preferred universally for its usage as a fixative, staining and mounting medium. Lactophenol cotton blue is widely used to study the morphological features of fungal isolates. It is available in plain form as well as a combined form with polyvinyl alcohol. Teased preparation is the most common International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319 7706 Volume 5 Number 11 (2016) pp. 536 541 Journal homepage: http:/www.ijcmas.com