Chapter 8 Technical and Software Advances in Bacterial Pathogen Typing

Publication date: 2015 Source:Methods in Microbiology, Volume 42 Author(s): Linda Chui, Vincent Li Bacterial typing is an integral part of many public health systems and is a crucial tool for pathogen surveillance and outbreak detection. Choosing an appropriate typing method depends on many factors including cost, time, discriminatory power, reproducibility, ease of result interpretation, and the availability of materials and technical expertise. In recent years, advancements have been made in laboratory techniques and computer hardware and software, significantly changing the landscape of bacterial typing. Classical methods focusing on phenotypic characteristics have been replaced with testing at the genetic level. The concurrent improvements in computer technology such as the availability of increased computer processing power, superior data storage and sharing, and the possibility to automate typing data analysis, have further enhanced the utility of modern assays. This chapter reviews the techniques and software associated with many of the currently available bacterial typing methods.
Source: Methods in Microbiology - Category: Microbiology Source Type: research