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Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 18e
| Part 8. Infectious Diseases > Section 1. Basic Considerations in Infectious Diseases > |
Chapter e22. Laboratory Diagnosis of Infectious Diseases
Sections: Laboratory Diagnosis of Infectious Diseases: Introduction, Detection Methods, Direct Detection, Detection of Pathogenic Agents by Culture, Automation of Microbial Detection in Blood, Detection of Pathogenic Agents by Serologic Methods, Identification Methods, Further Readings.
Topics Discussed: infectious diseases; laboratory tests to direct antimicrobial pharmacotherapy; patient assessment: history, physical, and laboratory evaluation.
Excerpt:"The laboratory diagnosis of infection requires the demonstration—either direct or indirect—of viral, bacterial, fungal, or parasitic agents in tissues, fluids, or excreta of the host. Clinical microbiology laboratories are responsible for processing these specimens and also for determining the antibiotic susceptibility of bacterial and fungal pathogens. Traditionally, detection of pathogenic agents has relied largely on either the microscopic visualization of pathogens in clinical material or the growth of microorganisms in the laboratory. Identification generally is based on phenotypic characteristics such as fermentation profiles for bacteria, cytopathic effects in tissue culture for viral agents, and microscopic morphology for fungi and parasites. These techniques are reliable but are often time-consuming. Increasingly, the use of nucleic acid probes is becoming a standard method for detection, quantitation, and/or identification in the clinical microbiology laboratory, gradually replacing phenotypic characterization and microscopic visualization methods...."
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