ABSTRACT
This chapter was composed by a senior infectious disease clinician at the request of the editor to focus on the very understated role of diagnostic microbiology i.e., to collaborate with the practicing physicians and trainees. The clinical diagnosis and microbiological diagnosis of infectious disease are equally important parallel tracks that must intersect frequently and collegially to exchange information with bench to bedside connection as the goal. The m ore information a laboratory technologist has about the clinical differential diagnosis, the more helpful they will be in choosing enrichment, selective and identification tools and provide an early definitive diagnosis. On the other hand, the more a clinician knows about limitations and pitfalls of any test, the more likely they are to use the results as guides rather than dictums to treat patients. Even trained infectious disease specialist welcome preliminary identification, interim negative culture results and unusual pathogen characteristics that help them steer in the right direction of using intervention to unfold what starts as a mystery and ends up frequently in life saving outcomes. The right antibiotic at the right time irrespective of its price is the safest and most cost-effective intervention in seriously ill hospitalized patients. A reliable and friendly collaboration between microbiology laboratory staff and clinicians managing infectious disease is the cornerstone of any process improvement intervention.
