Question

If you forgot to do the acid alcohol step during an acid-fast stain, what result would you probably get?A. All bacteria would look pink B. All bacteria would look clear C. No bacteria would be present on the slide D. All bacteria would look blue

Answer 1

Acid alcohol serves as a decolorizing agent. After flushing the excess carbolfushin, acid alcohol should be used as decolorizer thereby removing carbolfushin out of the non-acid fast cells. If this step is not done, excess carbolfushin will not be removed from the smear and out of the non-acid fast cells. So the result is all bacteria would look blue. Acid fast cells will not be visible on the smear.

Answer - Option D - All bacteria would look blue