Avoiding laboratory pitfalls in infectious diseases.
In today's medical care environment, clinicians are challenged to order clinically relevant, cost effective laboratory tests and antibiotic therapy. Together, physicians and laboratories must have guidelines and strategies that can provide quality patient care, while minimising costs and preventing further emergence of antimicrobial drug resistance. Five clinical vignettes that demonstrate these principles are presented.
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Department of Medicine, University of North Dakota, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, 1919 Elm Street, Fargo, ND 58102, USA. tshienlo@medicine.nodak.edu
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D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019411:Clinical Laboratory Techniques / Q000592:standards; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006300:Health Services Misuse; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged