title: Epidemiologic typing systems.
abstract: Microbial strain typing is a useful adjunct to clinical epidemiology. Phenotypic typing systems examine expressed characteristics, whereas genotypic systems, including recent PCR-based systems, examine chromosomal or plasmid DNA. Typing systems have evaluated bacteria, fungi, and viruses successfully. The criteria used to assess the utility of each system include typeability, reproducibility, and discriminatory power.
authors.affiliation: Veterans' Affairs Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Maslow
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Mulligan
mesh_terms: D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D001434:Bacteriophage Typing; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000382:microbiology; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D010641:Phenotype; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012703:Serotyping