Rapid methods and computer assisted diagnosis in medical microbiology.

Rapid diagnosis and reporting in medical microbiology is becoming more and more important. In recent years, introduction of automated instruments as well as of computer assisted diagnosis contributed to this aim. These methods, however, are very expensive. A more cost efficient and simple to perform method for rapid diagnosis is the use of specific fluorogenic substrates incorporated into culture media (solid or liquid) for identification of the most important pathogens, e.g. Escherichia coli. Investigation of Fluorocult ECD agar and Columbia agar revealed a high sensitivity (85%) and an excellent specificity (greater than 99%) of fluorescence in combination with a positive indole reaction for identification of E. coli.