Immunologic techniques in the clinical microbiology laboratory

Immunology has a crucial role in microbiology. This is evident in that antibody is a key component of the test methods used to diagnose infectious disease. Antibody is used to detect pathogens with techniques such as latex agglutination, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and immunofluorescent antibody test. In addition, antibody may be quantitated and identified to determine approximate time of exposure to a particular pathogen. An understanding of the basic assays used in microbiology, as well as their strengths and weaknesses, is important for the microbiologist or immunologist.