The Technique of Positive-Control Cell Block in Infectious Disease Pathology

The Technique of Positive-Control Cell Block in Infectious Disease Pathology

Currently, pathogens can be detected by molecular biological techniques in blood or tissue samples. However, in microbial forensics, the results of microbiological test cannot be used for final diagnosis for cause of death. Pathological picture must be compared with the microbiological results to determine the cause and mechanism of death. We have developed and utilized infectious disease molecular pathology on tissue level for direct proving microbial pathogenesis. The pathologic diagnosis was made by immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization and immunofluorescence. In this article, we prepared biological material into cell blocks as positive control, and further demonstrated by hematoxylin-eosin stain and immunohistochemistry. The technique of positive-control cell blocks in infectious disease pathology offers pathologists to make a pathological diagnosis of an emerging infectious disease (such as MERS and Zika virus infections) or other fatal infectious diseases (such as SARS, Ebola and Influenza virus infections). It is the very first step in the development of infectious disease pathology activities in Taiwan.