Infectious diseases are caused by microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites.

Once it is confirmed that the person has an infection, it is necessity to know which specific microorganism is causing the infection. Many infectious diseases have similar signs and symptoms. For example, pneumonia can be caused by viruses, bacteria, and fungi. The treatment is different for each microorganism. Therefore, it is necessary to use microbiological laboratory methods to identify a specific etiologic agent.

This book provides detail knowledge about the collection of suitable pathological specimens and different methods of laboratory diagnosis of infectious diseases such as:
1. Direct examination of pathological specimens under a microscope.
2. Stained different pathological specimens and observe under the microscope.
3. Culture of microorganism.
4. Biochemical tests for identification of infectious agents.
5. Serological tests (antigen detection tests and antibody detection tests).
6. Antibiotic susceptibility test, particularly bacteria are tested in vitro to determine whether they are susceptible to antimicrobial agents (antibiotics or chemical compounds).

Treatment can be targeted more precisely if clinician knows what type of microorganism is infecting the patient. The overuse of antibiotics has resulted in several types of bacteria developing resistance to one or more varieties of antibiotics. This makes these bacteria much more difficult to treat and more likely to be life-threatening. 

This book has been written in simple language, easily understandable, need-based, well labeled diagram and tables have been furnished at appropriate places. This textbook would be useful for the students of Medical (MBBS, MD Microbiology, M. Sc. Medical Microbiology, M.Sc. Clinical Microbiology), Dental (BDS), Nursing (B. Sc Nursing, BN, Midwife) and Paramedical sciences (B. Sc. Medical Microbiology. B. Sc. MLT, BPT) of graduate and post graduate levels.