UW - La Crosse - What is Clinical Microbiology?

What is Clinical Microbiology?

The first outbreak of monkeypox in the Americas was diagnosed by Dr. Kurt Reed at the Marshfield Clinic
Electron micrograph of monkeypox virus. The first outbreak of monkeypox in the Americas was diagnosed by Dr. Kurt Reed at the Marshfield Clinic.

Approximately 25% of all deaths worldwide are due to infectious diseases, and in some countries this number approaches 50%.

New infectious diseases, such as HIV and SARS, are continually emerging and old diseases such as tuberculosis are re-emerging.

Across the globe infectious diseases account for greater than 60% of the deaths of children less than four years of age.

Governments are spending billions to combat the threat of bioterrorism.

Clinical Microbiology concerns microbiological aspects of human and animal infection by pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa. Thus, all of the above statements represent areas of great concern to the field of Clinical Microbiology. Common topics of interest to clinical microbiology include the nature of the etiologic agents, their interactions with the immune system, and the diagnosis and epidemiology of infectious disease.

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