Improving our Microbiology labs is our best defense against dieses and bioterror

L. Barth Reller, Melvin P. Weinstein, Lance R. Peterson, John D. Hamilton, Ellen Jo Baron, Lucy S. Tompkins, J. Michael Miller, Catherine M. Wilfert, Fred C. Tenover, Richard B. Thomson, Jr. Lance Peterson Northwestern University Medical School, Evanston, Illinois. Jhon D Hamilton Duke University Medical School, Durham, North Carolina Ellen jo Baron Stanford University Medical School, Stanford, California. Lucy s tomspon Stanford University Medical School, Stanford, California J michale Miller Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlant. Cathrine M Wilfer Duke University Medical School, Durham, North Carolina. Fred C tenover Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlant. Richard Bb tohompson JR Northwestern University Medical School, Evanston, Illinois - op

Modern medicine has led to dramatic changes in infectious diseases practice. Vaccination and antibiotic therapy have benefited millions of persons. However, constrained resources now threaten our ability to adequately manage threats of infectious diseases by placing clinical microbiology services and expertise distant from the patient and their infectious diseases physician. Continuing in such a direction threatens quality of laboratory results, timeliness of diagnosis, appropriateness of treatment, effective communication, reduction of health care-associated infections, advances in infectious diseases practice, and training of future practitioners. Microbiology laboratories are the first lines of defense for detection of new antibiotic resistance, outbreaks of foodborne infection, and a possible bioterrorism event. Maintaining high-quality clinical microbiology laboratories on the site of the institution that they serve is the current best approach for managing today's problems of emerging infectious diseases and antimicrobial agent resistance by providing good patient care outcomes that actually save money.