Ocular infectious disease is one of the most important causes of blindness in developing countries. Pathogenic microorganism examination is the gold standard for the diagnosis of ocular infectious disease. The prognosis of ocular infectious disease is seriously affected by the difficulty to take samples from ocular tissues, a limited specimen for examination, and the low positive rate of laboratory diagnosis. In China, ability to make a suitable laboratory diagnosis of ocular infectious disease is low in most of the medical institutions, and consensus on standardized methods to detect pathogenic microorganisms is also absent. Therefore, the Laboratory Branch of Beijing Medical Association organized experts and relevant research groups to establish the etiological diagnosis algorism suitable for ophthalmic clinical practice and formed this expert consensus on the laboratory diagnosis of pathogenic microorganisms of ocular infectious disease. The consensus starts with the clinical manifestations and the indications of laboratory examination, provides the standard protocol for the processes of ocular specimen collection, transportation and quality evaluation. It is emphasized that ophthalmologists should fully cooperate with microbiological testing personnel to collect specimens correctly and select appropriate microbiological testing methods. Bedside inoculation of the specimen is advocated, some suggestions are given for smear cytology, traditional microbial culture, Acanthamoeba culture, nucleic acid detection and metagenome sequencing, etc. The consensus can play a guiding role in the laboratory diagnosis of ocular infectious disease, and effectively improve the level of diagnosis and treatment of ocular infectious disease in China.

Ocular infectious disease; Pathogenic microorganisms; Laboratory diagnosis; Consensus