Respiratory Infections, An Issue of Clinics in Laboratory Medicine

Download or read book Respiratory Infections, An Issue of Clinics in Laboratory Medicine written by Michael J. Loeffelholz and published by Elsevier Health Sciences. This book was released on 2014-06-28 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Acute respiratory infections are responsible for an estimated 4 million deaths annually worldwide, and are the leading cause of death in children younger than 5 years. Over 1 million people in the United States are hospitalized each year with pneumonia. Mycobacterium tuberculosis infects one third of world’s population. There are more than 1 million tuberculosis-related deaths worldwide each year. Emerging resistance to multiple available antimicrobial agents has hampered the ability to treat tuberculosis and hospital-acquired respiratory infections. The laboratory diagnosis of respiratory infections is an important part of patient management and treatment. In addition to culture isolation of pathogens, advances have been made in a number of non-culture methods. This issue of Clinics in Laboratory Medicinee reviews state-of-the-art laboratory diagnosis of respiratory infections, as well as the testing of susceptibility to antibiotics and antiviral agents. Among some of the respiratory infections covered are: Cystic fibrosis infections; Pertussis; Pharyngitis; Fungal infections. Among the diagnostic tests are: Interferon gamma release assays; Molecuar diagnosis of TB; Urine antigen tests and discussion of Antibiotic resistance in nosocomial respiratory infections.