Infectious diseases can range from mild to severe and can affect different parts of the body. The symptoms of an infectious disease depend on the type of pathogen and the severity of the infection. Common symptoms include fever, fatigue, cough, headache, muscle aches, and rash. Some infectious diseases can be treated with antibiotics, antivirals, or other medications, while others may require supportive care to manage symptoms until the body's immune system can clear the infection.
Some infectious diseases can be prevented through vaccination, good hygiene practices, and avoiding close contact with infected individuals. Early detection and treatment of infectious diseases is important to prevent the spread of the disease to others and to prevent serious complications from developing.
Biobanks (also known as biological resource centers) are entities responsible for the management of biological samples and their associated data. These structures can collect and preserve infectious materials in the form of samples inventory.
Infectious substances (or infectious materials) are biological specimens that are suspected or known to contain pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, prions or parasites that cause infectious or parasitic diseases in humans and animals.
These samples may be in the form of strains (viral, bacterial, fungal) or biological samples from infected patients or animals by viruses like the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 or HIV, such as tissue, tissue fluid or blood samples.
What are the advantages of using a biobank for infectious material needs?
Setting up a biological collection and preparing samples for a clinical project
Save time in the experimentation phase
After a biopsy, or other procedure to retrieve a human sample, a sample may be retained, with the patient's consent, for research purposes.
The samples, after collection, must be stored under certain conditions, depending on their type and shelf life, to allow for their viability.