title: [Methods of rapid diagnosis in clinical microbiology: Clinical needs].
abstract: The diagnostic methods of infectious diseases should be fast, accurate, simple and affordable. The speed of diagnosis can play a crucial role in healing the patient, allowing the administration of appropriate antibiotic treatment. One aspect that increasingly determines the need for rapid diagnostic techniques is the increased rates of serious infections caused by multidrug resistant bacteria, which cause a high probability of error in the empirical treatment. Some of the conventional methods such as Gram staining or antigen detection can generate results in less than 1 hour but lack sensitivity. Today we are witnessing a major change in clinical microbiology laboratories with the technological advances such as molecular diagnostics, digital microbiology and mass spectrometry. There are several studies showing that these changes in the microbiological diagnosis reduce the generation time of the test results, which has an obvious clinical impact. However, if we look into the future, other new technologies which will cover the needs required for a rapid microbiological diagnosis are on the horizon. This review provides an in depth analysis of the clinical impact that the implementation of rapid diagnostic techniques will have on unmet clinical needs.
authors.affiliation: ISGlobal, Barcelona Ctr. Int. Health Res. (CRESIB), Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, España; Servicio de Microbiología, Centro de Diagnóstico Biomédico, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, España. Electronic address: jvila@ub.edu.
authors.forename: Jordi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vila
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Microbiología, Hospital Universitario y Politécnico La Fe, Valencia, España.
authors.forename: María Dolores
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Gómez
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Hospital Universitario y Politécnico La Fe, Valencia, España.
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salavert
authors.affiliation: ISGlobal, Barcelona Ctr. Int. Health Res. (CRESIB), Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, España; Servicio de Microbiología, Centro de Diagnóstico Biomédico, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, España.
authors.forename: Jordi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bosch
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D008828:Microbiological Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Diagnóstico microbiológico; Impact; Impacto; Methods; Microbiological diagnosis; Métodos; Necesidades; Needs