Evaluation of the BioFire FilmArray Pneumonia Panel Plus to the Conventional Diagnostic Methods in Determining the Microbiological Etiology of Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia

Hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) is a substantial public health issue that is associated with high mortality rates and is complicated by an arsenal of microbial etiologies, expressing multidrug-resistant phenotypes, rendering relatively limited therapeutic options. BioFire FilmArray Pneumonia Panel plus (BFPP) is a simple multiplexed PCR system that integrates sample preparation, nucleic acid extraction, amplification, and analysis of microbial etiology, with a turnaround time of about one hour. In comparison to standard culture methods, BFPP is simpler, easier to perform, and can simultaneously detect the most common pathogens involved in lower respiratory tract infections (34 targets). Accordingly, we evaluated the diagnostic performance of the multiplexed BFPP for the rapid detection of 27 clinically relevant respiratory pathogens and 7 genetic markers among 50 HAP cases admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), who submitted mini-bronchoalveolar (mBAL) specimens. In comparison to standard culture methods, BFPP showed an overall sensitivity of 100% [95% CI; 90–100] and overall specificity of 90% [95% CI; 87.4–92.5] among all the tested bacterial targets. BFPP identified 11 viral targets (22%) among the tested specimens. The BFPP semi-quantitative analysis showed a concordance rate of 47.4% among positive culture specimens. For the investigation of the antibiotic resistance genes, BFPP showed a positive percent agreement (PPA), a negative percent agreement (NPA), and an overall percent agreement (OPA), reaching 97% [95% CI; 90–100], 95% [95% CI; 91.5–97], and 95% [95% CI; 93–97], respectively, with standard antibiotic sensitivity testing. In conclusion, BFPP has the potential to enhance the rapid microbiological diagnosis of HAP cases, and could aid in tailoring appropriate antibiotic therapies

Multimodal Interventions to Prevent and Control Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae and Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase Producer-Associated Infections at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Egypt

The current rise of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Gram-negative Enterobacteriaceae including the extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing organisms and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) has been increasingly reported worldwide, posing new challenges to health care facilities. Accordingly, we evaluated the impact of multimodal infection control interventions at one of the major tertiary healthcare settings in Egypt for the aim of combating infections by the respective pathogens. During the 6-month pre-intervention period, the incidence rate of CRE and ESBL-producing clinical cultures were 1.3 and 0.8/1000 patient days, respectively. During the post-intervention period, the incidence of CRE and ESBL producers continued to decrease, reaching 0.5 and 0.28/1000 patient days, respectively. The susceptibility rate to carbapenems among ESBL producers ranged from 91.4% (ertapenem) to 98.3% (imipenem), amikacin (93%), gentamicin (56.9%), and tobramycin (46.6%). CRE showed the highest resistance pattern toward all of the tested β-lactams and aminoglycosides, ranging from 87.3% to 94.5%. Both CRE and ESBL producers showed a high susceptibility rate (greater than 85.5%) to colistin and tigecycline. In conclusion, our findings revealed the effectiveness of implementing multidisciplinary approaches in controlling and treating infections elicited by CRE and ESBL producers

BioFire FilmArray BCID2 versus VITEK-2 System in Determining Microbial Etiology and Antibiotic-Resistant Genes of Pathogens Recovered from Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections

Central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) is among the most serious hospital acquired infections. Therefore, the rapid detection of the causative microorganism is of crucial importance to allow for the appropriate antimicrobial therapy. In the present study, we analyzed the clinical performance of the BioFire FilmArray Blood Culture Identification 2 (BCID2) panel in the identification of 33 microbial species and 10 antibiotic resistance genes in comparison to the VITEK-2 system. A total of 104 blood specimens were included. The FilmArray BCID2 results were concordant with the VITEK-2 system in 69/97 specimens (71.1%). Non-concordance was either due to the detection of more pathogens by the FilmArray BCID2 23/28 (82%) or microbial species were misidentified 5/28 (18%). Hence, in comparison to the VITEK-2 system, the FilmArray BCID2 panel showed an overall sensitivity of 75.8% (95% CI, 66–83%) and an overall specificity of 98% (95% CI, 97–98.8%) in detecting microbial species. For the resistance genes, the FilmArray BCID was able to detect the presence of blaCTX-M gene in 23 Gram-negative isolates, blaNDM and blaOXA-48- like genes in 14 and 13 isolates, respectively. The mecA and mecC genes were found in 23 Staphylococcus species, while mecA, mecC and MREJ genes were found in 4 Staphylococcus aureus isolates. The sensitivity and specificity for detecting resistance genes by the FilmArray BCID2 was 90% (95% CI, 81.4–95%) and 99.6% (95% CI, 99–100%), respectively. As concluded, the present study emphasizes the high sensitivity and specificity of the FilmArray BCID2 in the rapid and reliable detection of different bacteria and fungi from positive blood culture bottles, as well as the accurate detection of various antibiotic resistance markers