CONTRIBUTIONS BY THE NICD ELECTRON MICROSCOPY LABORATORY TO THE HUMAN COMMUNICABLE DISEASE ARENA

摘要

The successful treatment of infectious disease is frequently dependant on laboratory confirmation of a clinical diagnosis. As speed and accuracy of laboratory diagnoses can be crucial to patient outcomes, the diagnostic tools utilized in human healthcare have become increasingly sensitive, rapid and specific - with associated costliness. Molecular techniques do however require the use of specific probes/primers, selection of which is based on a clinician's directive of suspected disease. This reagent selection becomes problematic though, as the 21st century has been characterized by a surge of emerging and re-emerging pathogens, diagnosis of which is frequently precluded by the current molecular assays for recognized human pathogens. This is of particular significance to sub-Saharan Africa, where large numbers of immunocompromised inhabitants are exposed/susceptible to emerging and opportunistic pathogens, mostly of zoonotic origin. However, visualization of potential pathogens using electron microscopy (EM) requires no prior knowledge of the pathogen(s) present in a specimen. EM is therefore a most appropriate tool for assisting in diagnosis of disease of unknown aetiology.