Laboratory Diagnosis of Infectious Diseases-Essentials of Diagnostic Microbiology 2008

Microbiology—the study of microbes—is a fascinating and extremely important subject. We are surrounded by microscopic critters that impact our daily lives in a variety of ways. In addition to the numerous beneficial aspects of microbes, many of them cause disease. In recent years, the public has been bombarded by news reports about microbe-associated medical problems such as bird flu, SARS, monkeypox, flesh-eating bacteria, mad cow disease, superbugs, black mould in buildings, West Nile virus, Ebola virus, bioterrorism, anthrax, smallpox, food recalls due to the presence of bacterial pathogens, and epidemics of meningitis, hepatitis, influenza, tuberculosis. and diarrheal diseases