[Bacterial infection and rapid laboratory microbial methods].

The key to treatment of bacterial infectious diseases is always to quickly identify the causative organism and understand its resistance to drugs. Recent progress in microbial laboratory methods has permitted rapid detection and identification of pathogenic organisms. Rapid test methods are classified into culture and non-culture methods. Non-culture methods are based mainly on immunoassay for detection of antigen or antibody of pathogenic organisms, but also include the DNA probe method and the RNA probe method. Immunoassay is achieved by fluorescent antibody techniques, agglutination and ELISA. On a related note, monoclonal antibodies have been developed with steady progress. For culture methods, commercial bacterial identification kits and automated instruments, all of which permit quicker identification than with conventional methods, are now used in a large number of laboratories. Quick identification with these automated instruments is possible owing to optical determination of drug resistance. Some automated instruments are capable of rapidly detecting bacteria in the sample. For example, Bactec, used for quick diagnosis of bacteremia, measures CO2 produced by bacteria in the culture bottle during the metabolic process, permitting early detection of bacterial proliferation. Other methods are available in which ATP produced by bacteria is measured on the basis of bioluminescence or chemiluminescence.