Molecular Diagnostics

Gupta, Varsha; Sengupta, Manjistha; Prakash, Jaya; Tripathy, Baishnab Charan

Effective and early management of diseases requires record of the history, behavioral parameters, and travel information. These are helpful for the diagnosis, prevention, and control of the disease. There have been several advancements in the methods for diagnosing infectious diseases. The wide spectrum of tests such as biochemical evaluation, microbiological tools, immunological and molecular biology techniques, etc., is available. Each type of diagnostic technique is strong and reliable in its own sense but poses certain limitations. These limitations may be complemented by using a combination of tests. Older techniques such as microscopy and culturing of organisms from clinical specimens are error-free but are very labor intensive and extremely time consuming. There is a need to develop rapid and sensitive tests that can be used in both high- and low-resource settings. Molecular diagnostics such as Western blot, ELISA, PCR, DNA, and protein microarrays are revolutionizing the clinical practice of infectious diseases. Their effects are significant in acute-care settings where timely and accurate diagnostic tools are critical for patient treatment decisions and outcomes.