LABORATORIO DE VIROLOGÍA EN LA PRÁCTICA CLÍNICA

Viral infections remain a frequent cause of medical consultation. Advances in support and treatment of critically ill and immunocompromised patients, and the introduction of antiviral drugs have resulted that viral diagnosis is now an important function in clinical laboratories. A complete and precise viral diagnostic also allows monitoring chronic infections, to detect serologic response or susceptibility on vaccinated population and to characterize the course of viral outbreaks. In this article, we review the basic concepts behind the most frequently used virology techniques and summarized the laboratory tests that can be performed according to the most frequent infections.