Microbiology Serology
The Serology service provides a wide range of screening, supplemental and reference-level immunoassays for the diagnosis of infectious diseases including viral, bacterial, fungal and parasitic agents. Other major functions include immunity testing, disease surveillance, organ donation screening and (Therapeutic Goods Administration) TGA accredited tissue donor screening for blood-borne diseases.
Onsite serology laboratories are located at QEII Medical Centre and Fiona Stanley Hospital. The laboratory located at QEII Medical Centre in Nedlands is a reference laboratory for HIV, HBV and HCV testing, arboviruses and a National Influenza Centre, and performs the tissue and faecal microbiome donation testing under it’s TGA certification. Clinical advice may be sought from specialist virologists and microbiologists. Other enquiries concerning test interpretation, availability, frequency and combinations may be directed to the testing laboratory staff.
Immunoassays are available for the following agents:
- Blood-borne diseases including HIV-1/HIV-2, HTLV-I/II, HAV, HBV, HCV, HDV, HEV and Treponema pallidum (syphilis).
- Arboviruses including Ross River, Barmah Forest, West Nile (Kunjin), Murray Valley, Japanese encephalitis viruses , Zika, Dengue, Chikungunya, Yellow fever, Sindbis and Kokobera.
- Respiratory agents such as Influenza A and B, SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), Mycoplasma pneumoniae, RSV, parainfluenza 1, 2 and 3, adenovirus, Chlamydophila spp. and Legionella spp.
- Mumps, measles, parvovirus B19, rubella and varicella.
- Herpes viruses including HSV I and II, HHV6, EBV, CMV.
- Burkholderia pseudomallei (melioidosis), Bordetella pertussis, Rickettsia spp., Coxiella burnetti (Q fever), Brucella spp., Bartonella henselae (Cat Scratch Disease), Leptospira spp., Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme Disease) and Helicobacter pylori.
- Parasites including Toxoplasma gondii, Echinococcus spp. (Hydatid), Strongyloides stercoralis, Schistosoma spp., Entamoeba histolytica and Taenia solium (Cysticercosis)
- Galactomannan antigen for the diagnosis of invasive Aspergillosis.