A Reveiw of Molecular methods Used for Epidemiological Studies of iological agent

Microbial strain typing is an integral part of epidemiological investigations of infectious diseases. This process is important epidemiological for recognizing outbreaks of infection, detecting the cross-transmission of nosocomical pathogens, determining the source of the infections, recognizing particularly virulent strains of organisms, and evaluation of control measurcs. Typing methods fall lnto two broad categories: phenotypic and genotypic methods. Phenotypic methods are rely on the expression of particular properties belonging to the organism and have a tendency to vary. Genotyping methods are based on analysis of the genetic material of a microorganism and less subject to natural variation. In recent years, several molecular techniques have emerged as choice methods for microbial typing. Molecular typing methods have several advantages over traditional approaches, including higher discriminatory power, broader application to a variety of microbial species, at times, and speed. In this review, some of the most current techlology particularly molecular typing methods for microbial typing with regard to the principles of the methods and their reproducibility, discrimination power, and ease of use, are compared.