Welcome to Immunology/Infectious Disease

Infectious diseases are a significant healthcare concern in the United States and abroad. The list of infectious disease agents is extensive, and includes over 20 sexually transmitted diseases (STD's). Infectious disease agents can include bacteria, fungi, viruses, and non-microbial agents, such as prions. Manufacturers of diagnostic tests have developed a plethora of products focused on pathogen identification and disease diagnosis. HIV, HCV, and chlamydia/gonorrhea tests compose a significant portion of the overall sexually transmited disease diagnostics market. These diagnostic products can be subdivided by testing principle, either immunological or molecular. Immunological tests utilize antibodies to detect either the antigen or human antibodies to the antigen. With regard to these immunodiagnostic tests, an antigen is a component of the disease agent itself, such as a viral coat protein. In either type of immunological assay, a human sample, usually blood, is screened and then confirmed if positive. Molecular diagnostics come in a variety forms, from gene sequencing to PCR (polymerase chain reaction) amplification. Nucleic acid amplification, the method employed by many molecular diagnostic tests, is a process used to amplify microbiological RNA for the identification and detection of an organism, in this case an infectious disease agent.