Mycetoma is a unique neglected tropical disease caused by a substantial number of microorganisms of fungal or bacterial origins. Identification of the causative organism and the disease extension are the first steps in the management of the affected patients and predicting disease treatment outcome and prognosis. Different laboratory-based diagnostic tools and techniques were developed over the...

Many bacterial species are responsible for sporadic cases and outbreaks of foodborne intoxication and infection. The foodborne diseases are classified on the basis of the pathogenetic mechanisms involved into four categories: performed toxin, enterotoxin formed in the colonized small intestine, mucosal invasion (enterocolitis) and mucosal invasion with bacteremia. Invasive and toxigenic strains...

I t is now more than three-quarters of a century since Armauer Hansen, in 1874, first made public his finding of the leprosy bacillus. Hansen was seeking an extrinsic agent, a contagia, as the cause of leprosy, in order to remove this malady from the category of hereditary diseases, where it has been so firmly intrenched by the authority of Danielssen and Boeck in 1847. He was convinced, on the...

A common feature of the numerous published studies on glandular fever is the wide variation encountered in the clinical and pathological manifestations of the disease (Davidsohn, 1952). This has permitted the clinician to label a wide variety of illnesses as glandular fever even in the presence of persistently negative laboratory findings. It is, therefore, far from clear whether the diagnosis ...

Until about 20 years ago, the diagnosis of iron deficiency was justifiably considered a simple matter. The focus of attention was then on hospitalized patients with a severe or moderate degree of anemia. When iron deficiency was suspected, the diagnosis could be substantiated by a decrease in serum iron, an elevation in the total iron-binding capacity (TIBC), and the typical changes of microcyt...

Meningitis is an infection of the membranes (meninges) surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Meningitis is usually of multiple etiology-bacterial, fungal or viral yet bacteria remain the common etiological agent (Reid & Fallon, 1992). Meningitis can be acute, with a quick onset of symptoms, or chronic, lasting a month or more, or can be mild or aseptic, but the emphasis should be on identifica...

Recent studies have demonstrated that screening and treatment for toxoplasmosis during gestation result in a decrease of vertical transmission and clinical sequelae. Early treatment was associated with improved outcomes. Thus, laboratory methods should aim for early identification of infants with congenital toxoplasmosis (CT). Diagnostic approaches should include, at least, detection of Toxopla...

Invasive aspergillosis occurs in a wide range of clinical scenarios, is protean in its manifestations, and is still associated with an unacceptably high mortality rate. Early diagnosis is critical to a favourable outcome, but is difficult to achieve with current methods. Deep tissue diagnostic specimens are often difficult to obtain from critically ill patients. Newer antifungal agents exhibit ...

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