title: Nonculture diagnostic tests for enteric diseases.
abstract: The diagnosis of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) has traditionally been based on culture results of feces from patients with diarrhea. Virtually everything we know about disease and the epidemiology of enteric pathogens, such as Salmonella spp., Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), e.g., O157, and Campylobacter spp., has been generated from the study of patients with culture-confirmed infections. However, this pattern may be changing because AGE diagnostics are moving away from culture toward rapid nonculture methods. These infections are mainly foodborne and therefore preventable, and it is of paramount importance that public health surveillance for these infections is consistent and reliable.
authors.affiliation: Tennessee Department of Health, Nashville, TN 37243, USA. tim.f.jones@tn.gov
authors.forename: Timothy F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gerner-Smidt
mesh_terms: D002167:Campylobacter / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002169:Campylobacter Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007753:Laboratories; D008829:Microbiology; D054323:Shiga-Toxigenic Escherichia coli / Q000302:isolation & purification*