Workload, space, and personnel of microbiology laboratories in teaching hospitals.

The resources needed to operate a microbiology laboratory are known only as rough approximations. In order to gather more information about these resources, a 13-page questionnaire was completed by 50 pathology departments, of which 38 departments provided adequate information about their microbiology sections to permit data analysis. This study reports the results for resource and work load factors and significant regression analyses among these factors for the whole microbiology section and the subsections of aerobic bacteriology, anaerobic bacteriology, mycobacteriology , mycology, parasitology, virology, and antibiotic sensitivity. These data provide a basis for evaluating the current needs of microbiology laboratories and for making projections for the future.