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Molecular Typing and Clustering Analysis as a Tool for Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases

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Modern Infectious Disease Epidemiology

Part of the book series: Statistics for Biology and Health ((SBH))

Abstract

This chapter describes the mechanism of typing procedures of human pathogens and gives some examples to substantiate the added value of typing and clustering analysis in epidemiology. Three steps need to be discerned in the process toward molecular clustering analysis. First, the pathogen must be recognized and identified (the diagnostic step). Second, the typing of the pathogen genome is performed and third, the clustering of the specific type with other known or newly identified types is needed for added epidemiological information.

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Acknowledgment

The authors wish to thank Prof. Dr. R.A. Coutinho for his valuable comments to improve the readability for non-laboratory trained persons.

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Correspondence to Sylvia M. Bruisten .

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Bruisten, S.M., Schouls, L. (2009). Molecular Typing and Clustering Analysis as a Tool for Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases. In: Krämer, A., Kretzschmar, M., Krickeberg, K. (eds) Modern Infectious Disease Epidemiology. Statistics for Biology and Health. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-93835-6_7

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