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Use of Immunodiagnostics for the Early Detection of Biofilm Infections

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Part of the book series: Springer Series on Biofilms

Abstract

Biofilm infections are a therapeutic and diagnostic challenge due to their location and persistence. Specimen culturing is the golden standard for diagnosing bacterial infections, but recent investigation of the ability of this technique to grow bacteria from a biofilm has indicated that it is not reliable. Other testing modalities, such as PCR and serology assays, are either nonspecific for biofilm infections or they include the risk of contamination during sampling. Therefore, accurate diagnosis of an infection usually takes days and requires extensive test procedures, leading to increased healthcare costs and discomfort to the patient. In recent years, many attempts have been performed to design and set up new serology diagnostic assays to obtain early, noninvasive diagnosis of infections sustained by biofilms colonizing native tissues and medical implants. This chapter describes such attempts, including some examples of tests that could eliminate many of the obstacles related to early diagnosis in biofilm infection. The new tools could also allow new medical and surgical approaches to monitor and treat biofilm infections associated with many medical implants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laura Selan

Authors
  1. Laura Selan
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  2. Jennifer Kofonow
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  3. Gian luca Scoarughi
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  4. Tim Vail
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  5. Jeff G. Leid
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  6. Marco Artini
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© 2008 Springer-Verlag London

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Selan, L., Kofonow, J., Scoarughi, G., Vail, T., Leid, J.G., Artini, M. (2008). Use of Immunodiagnostics for the Early Detection of Biofilm Infections. In: Springer Series on Biofilms. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/7142_2008_24

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/7142_2008_24

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

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