Rapid Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis Using Roche AMPLICOR™ Mycobacterium tuberculosis PCR Test

The rapid diagnosis of infectious diseases, particularly those because of their communicability present a public health problem, is the objective of the clinical microbiologist and the practicing physician. The need to attain this goal is exemplified by the resurgence of tuberculosis and the increasing prevalence of drug-resistant isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis . The recent introduction of molecular technologies for the laboratory diagnosis of infectious diseases into the clinical microbiology laboratory now makes the goal of truly rapid diagnosis of infectious diseases attainable.