Diagnosis., epidemiology and pathogenesis of bacterial infections in the molecular era

Abstract

The rapid progress in the development of powerful techniques in molecular biology over the past 20 years has had an enormous impact on the disciplines of infectious diseases and microbiology. Our understanding of human bacterial pathogens has undergone significant advances, particularly in diagnosis, epidemiology and pathogenesis. Nucleic acid probes and amplification by PCRhave forever changed the laboratory diagnosis of many bacterial infections by providing specific, accurate and rapid means to identify DNA from pathogens in clinical samples. The application of molecular techniques has led to the development of typing systems based on the genetic structure of bacterial pathogens. This has provided investigators with highly effective tools for studying epidemiology, transmission, evolutionary relations, and pathogenesis of bacterial pathogens. The ability to isolate and manipulate bacterial genes has resulted in a virtual explosion of new information on molecular mechanisms of bacterial pathogenesis. These important advances in diagnosis, epidemiology and pathogenesis will lead directly to better means of treatment and prevention of a variety of bacterial infections in the next decade.