Nucleic Acid Amplification and Molecular Diagnostic Techniques in the Detection of ESKAPE Bacterial Pathogens

The word ESKAPE denotes a particular group of microbial species viz., Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumonia, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species, all of which were found to play role in causing nosocomial infections and also have the potential to develop drug resistance owing to their ability to “escape” the outcome action of antibiotics. The current chapter gives an overview of the ESKAPE pathogens, diseases associated with these pathogens, available methods to diagnose these pathogens with a special emphasis on various nucleic acid-based diagnostic methods.