Molecular bacteriology in the clinical laboratory

Identifying organisms in a timely manner has always been one of the greatest challenges for clinical microbiologists. Healthcare providers want rapid results in order to prescribe the appropriate antimicrobial therapy and improve patient care. Some of the more virulent pathogens such as MRSA, VRE, and MTB must be identified as quickly and accurately as possible in order to prevent the spread of the disease to other patients and employees. The need for rapid, molecular methodologies in the clinical bacteriology laboratory was essential to improve patient outcomes. Organisms that use to take days or weeks to identify are now detected in hours or within the same day. The advent of molecular assays has enabled clinical laboratory scientists to report out accurate, sensitive and timely results confirming the critical role they play on the healthcare team.