Infectious diseases are caused by bacteria, viruses, or other pathogenic agents.  Diagnosis may involve detecting the presence of proteins or nucleic acid from the suspected pathogen using ELISA or PCR, respectively.  In some cases, the patient’s blood will be tested for the presence of antibodies specific for a pathogen, as an indication that the person was previously infected with that agent.

Techniques used here do not necessarily represent what would be done currently in a clinical laboratory, considering recent advances in analytical tools. Our cases are intended to illustrate the variety of techniques that have been used to diagnosis infectious diseases, and are designed to sharpen students’ analytical skills.

The DNA and protein sequences for the cases described here are located in the Cases folder that is downloaded with the Case It! Software simulation.  The necessary enzymes, probes, antibodies, or proteins for a particular case will be located in the same folder as the DNA and protein sequences.  The keys to the cases are available online to instructors – contact Mark Bergland (mark.s.bergland@uwrf.) for access.