Long ago, during the Persian Gulf Tanker War, the Force Surgeon told me something I will never forget. Basically he said that our medical community was encountering diseases endemic to the Gulf Region that they had never dreamed of.
That, coupled with observations of friends (military veterans) struggling with exotic diseases has convinced me that the broad medical community really needs a better method of diagnosis.
Until an instant, foolproof method of diagnosis is developed, we had all better be actively involved in our health & well-being!
Until an instant, foolproof method of diagnosis is developed, we had all better be actively involved in our health & well-being!
Good microbiological diagnostics are rarely instant. Correct collection of a specimen is critical. Can you remember the last time you observed a doctor collecting a sputum specimen or doing a nasopharyngeal swab? Enteric samples are especially gross. My grad school advisor tossed me an "unknown". It took 36 hours to culture and prove it was genus Arizona. Subsequent immunological tests were used to identify the species. I handed him the results in 3 days. All the results were dead on. I got a C on the lab because I didn't put the date on my results. Others screwed with their work for 3 weeks and didn't get the right answer. Suffice to say, that behavior by my advisor was petty and stupid.
My lab skills are dated at this point. I spend my days doing digital signal processing. It's every bit as fun and I don't have to smell pots of agar simmering over a Bunsen burner.