RT Book, Section
A1 McAdam, Alexander J.
A1 Onderdonk, Andrew B.
A2 Jameson, J. Larry
A2 Fauci, Anthony S.
A2 Kasper, Dennis L.
A2 Hauser, Stephen L.
A2 Longo, Dan L.
A2 Loscalzo, Joseph
SR Print(0)
ID 1164035877
T1 Laboratory Diagnosis of Infectious Diseases
T2 Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 20e
YR 2018
FD 2018
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 9781259644016
LK accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1164035877
RD 2024/04/25
AB 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  has  been—and  often  still  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,  protein  analysis  or  genotypic  techniques  are  becoming  standard  methods  for  detection,  quantitation,  and/or  identification  of  microorganisms  in  the  clinical  microbiology  laboratory,  replacing  phenotypic  characterization  and  microscopic  visualization  methods.  This  chapter  discusses  general  concepts  of  diagnostic  testing,  with  an  emphasis  on  detection  of  bacteria.  Detection  of  viral,  fungal,  and  parasitic  pathogens  is  discussed  in  greater  detail  in  separate  chapters  (see  Chaps.  185,  206,  and  217,  respectively).