Epidemiological Uses and Diagnosis - Viruses
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The high specificity of phage against their host leads to other applications. Phage typing is a method that differentiates distinct strains of the same bacterial species on the basis of their susceptibility to phages.
EPIDEMIOLOGICAL USES AND DIAGNOSIS
The high specificity of
phage against their host leads to other applications. Phage typing is a method
that differentiates distinct strains of the same bacterial species on the basis
of their susceptibility to phages. This has been particularly relevant with bacteria
such as Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi and to some
extent Staphylococcus aureus that can
be ‘typed’ during an outbreak, and thus provides
some important epidemiological information. Molecular techniques based on
genetic differences are now preferred for S.
aureus.
A further application
for phage is in developing rapid diagnostics, notably against slow growing
bacteria such as Mycobacterium
tuberculosis. One specific kit relies on the protection of TB phages from
an externally applied viricide when inside the targeted host, M. tuberculosis if present; if the
bacterium is not present in the sputum or other biological fluid sample then
the phages will be unprotected and destroyed. Phages that are protected and
able to propagate are then harvested and inoculated to a lawn of rapidly
growing susceptible mycobacteria. The presence of plaques will indicate that
the phages were able to replicate first within M. tuberculosis, i.e. a positive sample.
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