{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]],"date-time":"2026-09-17T16:41:47Z","timestamp":1789663307550,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,12]],"date-time":"2024-09-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1726099200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>Accurate identification of infectious diseases using molecular techniques, such as PCR and NGS, is well-established. This study aims to assess the utility of Bactfast and Fungifast in diagnosing bloodstream infections in ICU settings, comparing them against traditional culture methods. The objectives include evaluating sensitivity and specificity and identifying a wide range of pathogens, including non-culturable species.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>We collected 500 non-duplicate blood samples from ICU patients between May 2019 and May 2020. Specimens underwent traditional culture, MALDI-TOF, VITEK<jats:sup>\u00ae<\/jats:sup>2 compact system, and NGS-based Bactfast and Fungifast analyses.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Out of the 500 samples, 26.8% (n=134) showed bacterial growth via traditional culture methods, while 4.8% (n=24) were positive for fungal growth. MALDI-TOF and VITEK<jats:sup>\u00ae<\/jats:sup>2 compact system yielded comparable results, identifying 26.4% (n=132) of specimens with bacterial growth. NGS-based Bactfast detected bacterial presence in 38.2% (n=191) of samples, including non-culturable bacteria missed by traditional methods. However, NGS-based Fungifast showed concordant fungal detection rates with culture methods. Among identified pathogens by culture method included <jats:italic>Klebsiella pneumoniae<\/jats:italic> 20.89% (n=28), <jats:italic>Enterococcus faecalis<\/jats:italic> 18.65% (n=25), <jats:italic>Escherichia coli<\/jats:italic> 15.67% (n=21), <jats:italic>Pseudomonas aeruginosa<\/jats:italic> 12.68% (n=17), <jats:italic>Acinetobacter baumannii<\/jats:italic> 10.44% (n=14), various <jats:italic>Streptococcus<\/jats:italic> species 7.46% (n=10), <jats:italic>Mycobacterium tuberculosis<\/jats:italic> 6.71% (n=9), <jats:italic>Mycobacterium abscessus<\/jats:italic> 4.47% (n=6), and <jats:italic>Salmonella spp<\/jats:italic> 2.98% (n=4). Non-culture-based NGS identified additional (n=33) pathogens, including <jats:italic>Klebsiella pneumoniae<\/jats:italic> 27.27% (n=9), <jats:italic>Bacteroides fragilis<\/jats:italic> 21.21% (n=7), <jats:italic>Aerococcus viridans<\/jats:italic> 15.15% (n=5), <jats:italic>Elizabethkingia anopheles<\/jats:italic> 12.12% (n=4), <jats:italic>Aeromonas salmonicida<\/jats:italic> 9% (n=3), <jats:italic>Clostridium<\/jats:italic> 9% (n=3), and <jats:italic>Bacteroides vulgatus<\/jats:italic> 6% (n=2). <jats:italic>Candida albicans<\/jats:italic> was reported in 5% (n=24) of samples by both methods.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>NGS-based Bactfast and Fungifast demonstrate high sensitivity in identifying a wide array of bacterial and fungal pathogens in ICU patients, outperforming traditional culture methods in detecting non-culturable organisms. These molecular assays offer rapid and comprehensive diagnostic capabilities, potentially improving clinical outcomes through timely and accurate pathogen identification.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fcimb.2024.1454549","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,12]],"date-time":"2024-09-12T07:36:52Z","timestamp":1726126612000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":14,"title":["Comparing NGS-Based identification of bloodstream infections to traditional culture methods for enhanced ICU care: a comprehensive study"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Wei","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Varun","family":"Chauhan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yutian","family":"Luo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sonu","family":"Sharma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chenxi","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Huaisheng","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1101\/2020.08.26.20157297","article-title":"Development of a qualitative real-time RT-PCR assay for the detection of SARS-CoV-2: A guide and case study in setting up an emergency-use, laboratory-developed molecular assay","volume":"2020","author":"Anahtar","year":"2020","journal-title":"medRxiv"},{"key":"B2","unstructured":"Micro genomics India"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"267","DOI":"10.1080\/21505594.2015.1134072","article-title":"Bloodstream infections in the intensive care unit","volume":"7","author":"Bassetti","year":"2016","journal-title":"Virulence"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.iccn.2022.103227","article-title":"Healthcare-associated infections in adult intensive care unit patients: Changes in epidemiology, diagnosis, prevention and contributions of new technologies","volume":"70","author":"Blot","year":"2022","journal-title":"Intensive Crit. 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