Clí­nica Universidad de Navarra

According to the National Commision, the speciality of Microbiology and Parasitology "aims to study the microorganisms and parasites that affect the human species, covering their detection, isolation, identification, colonization mechanisms and pathogenicity, dissemination and transmission mechanisms, clinical and epidemiological significance, control or therapeutic procedures and human biological responses to them".

The Microbiology Service depends on the Microbiology Department at the University of Navarra’s and it is located in the University Clinic.

HealthCare Activities

Using various laboratory procedures the Microbiology Service establishes the etiology of infectious diseases and the therapeutic agents that are potentially effective in their treatment. The work methods used are designed to demonstrate the infectious agents involved by isolating and identifying microorganisms. These methods subsequently permit the corresponding sensitivity tests to antimicrobial agents to be performed. Other methods do not require the cultivation of microorganisms. They are based on visualizing infectious agents, on demonstrating their components and metabolites, and on detecting immune responses to these agents in clinical samples.

The Microbiology Service is organized into seven sections according to the nature of the organisms involved and the methodology employed: Bacteriology, Mycobacteriology, Parasitology, Mycology, Virology and Serological Diagnosis. Recently a new Molecular Biology Section, which has incorporated PCR and pulsating field electrophoresis techniques for the diagnosis of infectious diseases and the typing of microorganisms for epidemiological purposes, has been created.

Although in recent years it has been possible to partially automate some of these procedures, we would emphasize that microbiological work is still essentially manual.

Noticias destacadas

• Thursday February 11, 2010

  A new technique increases the diagnosis of joint prosthesis-related infections by 20%
  The technique, which involves the culture of microorganisms following sonication, has been employed by a research team from the Clínica Universidad de Navarra and the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, USA), and their study has been published in The New England Journal of Medicine

• Wednesday April 8, 2009

  The Clínica has one of the first level-3 clinical biosafety laboratories in Spain
  The Clínica has a level-3 biosafety laboratory, which permits enables biological agents that cause diseases and that are potentially lethal to human beings to be manipulated, such as anthrax, bird flu or tuberculosis, amongst others. It is one of the first clinical laboratories of its type to be set up in Spain.

• Wednesday November 21, 2007

  Implanting medical devices in the bodies of patients can provoke infections that are difficult to diagnose and treat
  The introduction of protheses, valves, probes or catheters augments the risk of associated infections, according to a study co-authored by Doctor José Luis del Pozo, of the Clínica Universitaria de Navarra