Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

Gastrointestinal infections are viral, bacterial or parasitic infections that cause gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract involving both the stomach and the small intestine. Symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Dehydration is the main danger of gastrointestinal infections, so rehydration is important, but most gastrointestinal infections are self-limited and resolve within a few days. However, in a healthcare setting and in specific populations (newborns/infants, immunocompromized patients or elderly populations), they are potentially serious. Rapid diagnosis, appropriate treatment and infection control measures are therefore particularly important in these contexts.

Skin infections are caused by a wide variety of germs, and symptoms can vary from mild to serious. 

A urinary tract infection (UTI) is an infection from microbes. These are organisms that are too small to be seen without a microscope. Most UTIs are caused by bacteria, but some are caused by fungi and in rare cases by viruses. UTIs are among the most common infections in humans.

A UTI can happen anywhere in your urinary tract. Your urinary tract is made up of your kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra. Most UTIs only involve the urethra and bladder, in the lower tract. However, UTIs can involve the ureters and kidneys, in the upper tract. Although upper tract UTIs are more rare than lower tract UTIs, they’re also usually more severe.

Viral and immune mediated disorders of the nervous system are among the most challenging neurological disorders. The most common neuroimmune disorder is multiple sclerosis; and HIV is the most common viral infection of the nervous system. Common to both disorders is the progressive loss of neurons, resulting in significant cognitive and motor dysfunction. A major focus of Mayo researchers is to understand the pathophysiology of neuronal injury associated with these disorders to develop new diagnostic markers, therapeutic targets, and new areas of research applicable to other neurodegenerative diseases

Infectious diseases are caused by pathogenic microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses, parasites or fungi; the diseases can be spread, directly or indirectly, from one person to another. Zoonotic diseases are infectious diseases of animals that can cause disease when transmitted to humans.

Diagnostic microbiology is the study of microbial identification. Since the discovery of the germ theory of disease, scientists have been finding ways to harvest specific organisms. Using methods such as differential media or genome sequencing, physicians and scientists can observe novel functions in organisms for more effective and accurate diagnosis of organisms. Methods used in diagnostic microbiology are often used to take advantage of a particular difference in organisms attain information about what species it might be, often through a reference of previous studies

COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is a progressive disease that makes it hard to breathe. Progressive means the disease gets worse over time.COPD can cause coughing that produces large amounts of a slimy substance called mucus, wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and other symptoms. Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of COPD. Most people who have COPD smoke or used to smoke. However, up to 25 percent of people with COPD never smoked. Long-term exposure to other lung irritants—such as air pollution, chemical fumes, or dusts—also may contribute to COPD. A rare genetic condition called alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency can also cause the disease.

Immunology is the study of the immune system and is a very important branch of the medical and biological sciences, that deals with the response of an organism to antigenic challenge and its recognition of what is self and what is not. By understanding how pathogens cause disease helps in the development of new therapeutic approaches. Virulence is the measure of the pathogenicity of an organism. The degree of virulence is related directly to the ability of the organism to cause infection despite host resistance mechanisms, it is affected by numerous variables such as the number of infecting bacteria, route of entry into the body, specific and nonspecific host defence mechanisms and virulence factors of the bacterium.

Treatment and therapeutics of infectious diseases  involves patient care and moral support including therapy, medicine and antimicrobial agent. Bacterial infections can be treated by administering antibiotics to the patients. Yeast infections can be primarily treated by sterilisation methods. Parasitic infections can be treated by antiparasitic drugs. Diseases such as cancer can be treated by chemotherapy. Recent techniques have proved that there is no disease that cannot be treated.

The epidemiology of infectious disease (ID) involves study of the prevalence, incidence and determinants of infections in populations. Infectious diseases remain one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality around the world.  In addition to studying the rates of and risk factors for infectious disease, ID epidemiologists implement and evaluate interventions at the individual and community level to: prevent infection (primary prevention) and, among those with infections, to prevent development of disease (secondary prevention) or disease-associated death and disability (tertiary prevention).

The microbial world is complex, dynamic, and constantly emerging. Infection causing organisms reproduce rapidly, mutate frequently and adapt with relative ease to their new surroundings. Because of these characteristics, infectious organisms are able to alter their epidemiology, their virulence, and their susceptibility to anti-infective drugs. All forms of infectious organisms—bacteria, viruses, parasites, and prions are able to emerge or re-emerge in human populations, and it is estimated that up to 70 per cent or more of all emerging infections have a source in animals.

Infection control is the discipline concerned with preventing nosocomial or healthcare-associated infection, a practical sub-discipline of epidemiology. It is an essential, though often under recognized and under supported, part of the infrastructure of health care. Infection control and hospital epidemiology are akin to public health practice, practiced within the confines of a particular health-care delivery system rather than directed at society as a whole. Anti-infective agents include antibiotics, antibacterials, antifungals, antivirals and antiprotozoals.

Clinical Microbiology is a branch of medical science concerned with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases. Moreover, this field of science is concerned about various clinical applications of microbes for the improvement of health.

The  molecular  mechanisms of  infectious  disease  and identify potential therapeutic and diagnostic targets by exploiting next-generation genomic data.  It focuses on the comparative analysis of genomes obtained from local clinical isolates of important  pathogens such as  Mycobacterium  tuberculosis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococci, Campylobacter, Streptococci, ,and  Acinetobacter baumannii  and many other microorganisms.