Medical Microbiology

Medicalmicrobiologyexploreshowinfectiousdiseasesoriginateandde-

velop.Thefocusofthisbranchofthelifesciencesisofcourseoninfective

pathogens,thecausesofinfections.Thisexplainswhythetaxonomyofthese

microorganismsdeterminesthestructureoftextbooksofmedicalmicrobiol-

ogy,andthisoneisnoexception.Thisapproachdoesnot,however,satisfyall

therequirementsofclinicalpractice.Thepracticingphysicianisconfronted

withapathologicalproblemaffectingaspecificorganororgansystem,and

thereforemightwellfindgooduseforabriefreferencetoolcoveringthe

pathogenicagentsthatpotentiallyaffectspecificorgansandsystems.

Medicalmicrobiologymustaddresstwotasks: 1 .describingtheorigins

anddevelopmentofaninfectionand2.obtainingalaboratorydiagnosis

oftheresultingdiseasethatisofimmediateclinicalrelevancetopatient

treatment.Chapter 12 ofthisbookwaswrittentohelpbridgethegapbe-

tweenbasicmicrobiologicalscienceandthedemandsofmedicalpractice.

Conciseinformationonetiologyandlaboratorydiagnosishasbeengrouped

intabularformin 12 sectionscorrespondingtothemostimportantorgans

andorgansystems.Infectionsthataffectmorethanoneorgansystemare

listedwiththesystemthatisaffectedmostseverelyand/ormostfrequently

orinwhichthediseasemanifestsmostclearly.Thepathogensinquestionare

alsolistedwiththeotherorganmanifestations.Inthetables,themostfre-

quentcausativepathogensineachcaseareprintedinboldletters.Readersare

referredtotextbooksoninternalmedicineorspecialistliteratureoninfective

diseasesforexhaustiveinformationonclinicalaspectsextendingbeyond

etiologyandlaboratorydiagnosis(seereferencesattheendofthebook).

Thedescriptionsofthediagnosticproceduresusedtoclarifythedifferentin-

fectionshadtobekeptconciseinaccordancewiththetabularformat.Since

eachlaboratoryoffersitsownspecificsetoftestingtechniques,aphysician’s

choicesaredefinedandlimitedbywhatisfeasibleandavailableinagiven

case.Thisappliesinparticulartothemanydifferentantibodyassaysnow

available(=serology).Themostimportantserologicaltestsarelistedtogether

withtherelevantpathogensintherespectivechapters.

629

12

Kayser, Medical Microbiology © 2005 Thieme