TECHNIQUES FOR IDENTIFYING

INFECTIOUS AGENTS
BAL-UT
GUIRRE
DUE
BAUTISTA
 OVERVIEW

• There are several methods for identifying microorganisms in tissue and body fluids
• Culture
• Histology
• Serology
• Molecular Diagnosis
• Proteomics
TECHNIQUES FOR IDENTIFYING
INFECTIOUS AGENTS
 NEWLY EMERGING AND
REEMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES
 OVERVIEW

• Examples of new infectious agents continue to be discovered.

• A new cause of leprosy; Mycobacterium lepromatosis; identified by sequencing bacterial DNA from biopsy
material of px who died of leprosy.
• Middle East Respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERs COV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
virus; likely to spread from humans to animal.
• Other examples of pathogens that emerged in humans after being transmitted from animals include HIV and B.
burgdorferi.
• A new strain of highly virulent shiga-toxin producing Escherichia coli that spread in sprout seeds. The new
strain was derived from a different type of E. coli that acquired a gene for the shiga-toxin from a bacteriophage.
• Other pathogens have become much more common because of immunosuppression caused by AIDS, or
therapy to prevent transplant rejection or treat cancers (e.g., human herpes virus 8, Mycobacterium avium
complex, P. jirovecii).
 SEVERAL FACTORS CONTRIBUTE TO
THE EMERGENCE OF INFECTIOUS
DISEASES

• Human behavior affects the spread and infections, AIDS was first recognized in the US as
predominantly a disease of Homosexual men and drug abusers.
• Changes in the environment may increase the incidence of infectious diseases.
• Global warming also had an impact on the spread of infectious diseases; ex. Dengue and Zika viruses.
• Infectious diseases that are common in one geographic area may be introduced due to increased travel
or movement of infectious animals, birds, food.
• Pathogens adapt rapidly to selective pressures exerted by widespread use of antibiotics; Antibiotic
resistance has developed and is now common in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae,
Klebsiella pneumoniae, and S. aureus. Similarly, development of drug-resistant parasites has
dramatically increased the morbidity and mortality associated with Plasmodium falciparum infection
in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
AGENTS OF BIOTERRORISM
 OVERVIEW

• CDC has evaluated the danger microorganisms pose as weapons on the

basis of the efficiency with which disease can be transmitted. The CDC
ranked bioweapons into three categories, designated A, B, C.
• Category A – High risk, readily disseminated or transmitted from person to
person, typically cause diseases with high mortality rate.
• Category B – less easy to disseminate, moderate morbidity, low mortality,
require specific diagnostic and disease surveillance.
• Category C – emerging diseases that could be engineered for mass dissemination
because of ease of availability, production and dissemination.
POTENTIAL AGENTS OF
BIOTERRORISM