The increasing threat of resistant bacterial phenotypes, leading to increased
rates of treatment failure as well as prolonged hospitalization, necessitate early
detection and more targeted therapy to improve clinical outcomes. Traditional
microbiology laboratory diagnostic testing has been used for decades to identify the
pathogens causing the infectious diseases and its susceptibility to antibiotics but these
techniques are flawed particularly with long turnaround time. Rapid diagnostic
platforms are able to identify the infective organisms as well as antibiotics
susceptibility pattern within a significantly shorter period of time, which guides
targeted antimicrobial treatment and limit the exposure to broad-spectrum antibiotics,
the main trigger for bacterial resistance. Immuno-assay-based, nucleic acid probebased,
nucleic acid amplification-based and spectrometry-based techniques, in addition
to the future development of whole genome sequencing and microfluidics are
technological solutions that can be used by microbiology laboratories to minimize
sample-to-answer time. This chapter aims to illustrate the rapid diagnostic testing
platforms, discussing their scientific principle of operation, advantages and limitations.
Also, the importance of effective incorporation of these techniques in patient care
process.
Keywords: Antibiotics, Bacterial Resistance, Diagnostics Tools, Infectious
Diseases, Pathogens, Techniques, Treatment.
