title: Molecular diagnosis of infectious diarrhea: focus on enteric protozoa.
abstract: Robust detection of enteric protozoa is a critical step toward determining the etiology of diarrhea. Widespread use of conventional microscopy, culturing and antigen detection in both industrial and developing countries is limited by relatively low sensitivity and specificity. Refinements of these conventional approaches that reduce turnaround time and instrumentation have yielded strong alternatives for clinical and research use. However, advances in molecular diagnostics for protozoal, bacterial, viral and helminth infections offer significant advantages in studies seeking to understand pathogenesis, transmission and long-term consequences of infectious diarrhea. Quantitation of enteropathogen burden and highly multiplexed platforms for molecular detection dramatically improve predictive power in emerging models of diarrheal etiology, while eliminating the expense of multiple tests.
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, 22901, USA.
authors.forename: Hans P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Verkerke
authors.forename: Shihab U
authors.initials: SU
authors.lastname: Sobuz
authors.forename: William A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Petri
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D006801:Humans; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques; D010271:Parasites / Q000145:classification
keywords: developing world; diarrheal disease; enteric protozoa; molecular diagnostics; nucleic acid amplification tests