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Diagnostic Molecular Biology

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Book cover Diagnosis and Treatment of Fungal Infections

Part of the book series: Infectious Disease ((ID))

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Abstract

Clinical mycology is being increasingly challenged by two growing problems: (1) loss of experienced medical mycologists who can identify both common and rare fungi, and (2) a rapidly expanding group of clinically significant fungi that clinicians have rarely or never seen before that are appearing with increasing frequency. As increasingly fewer young, experienced, medical mycologists are entering clinical laboratories, the skills to identify current and future new species of fungi are rapidly disappearing. Unfortunately, patient populations are becoming increasingly immunosuppressed for longer periods of time, which is creating a perfect storm of a growing need for diagnostic skills being unmet by decreasing numbers of young mycologists entering the clinical profession. One of the ways around this issue is to develop new, robust, easy-to-use diagnostic strategies. The evidence is overwhelming that the field of molecular biology can be the source of these new strategies. There currently are multiple approaches that employ new equipment and new techniques that offer a way to fill the growing diagnostic vacuum that has been created in the past 10–20 years. These approaches need to make their way into clinical microbiology laboratories as quickly as possible in order to insure that the diagnostic needs for the field of medical mycology are met today and into the future.

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Acknowledgments

BLW is supported by the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command under grant W81XWH-13-C-0103, Office of Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, Joint Warfighter Medical Research Program, and the Army Research Office of the Department of Defense under Contract No.W911NF-11–1-0136.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of California Davis Medical Center, 2315 Stockton Boulevard, 95817, Sacramento, CA, USA

    Anna M. Romanelli

  2. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Mail Code 7758, Room 5.027V, 7703 Floyd Curl Dr, 78229, San Antonio, TX, USA

    Brian L. Wickes

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  1. Anna M. Romanelli
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Correspondence to Brian L. Wickes .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University Of Texas Health Science Cente, San Antonio, Texas, USA

    Duane R. Hospenthal

  2. University of Texas, San Antonio Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas, USA

    Michael G. Rinaldi

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Romanelli, A., Wickes, B. (2015). Diagnostic Molecular Biology. In: Hospenthal, D., Rinaldi, M. (eds) Diagnosis and Treatment of Fungal Infections. Infectious Disease. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13090-3_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13090-3_3

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