Laboratory tests
Framing
- Core laboratory testing in infectious diseases spans haematological (FBC - infection response pattern), inflammatory (CRP/ESR - non-specific activity markers), and pathogen-specific (microbiology culture, serology, virology) tests - each answering a different question (is there infection/inflammation? what organism? what stage of exposure/immunity?) rather than being interchangeable
- Interpreting these tests together, rather than any single result in isolation, gives the most reliable picture - a normal inflammatory marker does not exclude infection, and a positive serology does not always mean active disease
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