{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,8]],"date-time":"2026-06-08T10:07:34Z","timestamp":1780913254167,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Journal of Infection in Developing Countries","issue":"05","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,31]],"date-time":"2026-05-31T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1780185600000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J Infect Dev Ctries"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Introduction: Bloodstream infections are a leading cause of mortality worldwide, necessitating prompt identification and treatment to improve patient outcomes. Conventional methods are time-consuming, often delaying appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has emerged as a revolutionary tool for rapid microbial identification. This study aimed to evaluate the utility of direct microbial identification from positive blood cultures using MALDI-TOF MS in reducing diagnostic delays and improving pathogen detection for effective clinical management.\nMethodology: This prospective study analyzed 416 monomicrobial positive blood cultures obtained between October 2022 and October 2024 from a tertiary care teaching hospital in North India. After Gram staining and initial processing, direct microbial identification was performed using MALDI-TOF MS. Conventional subculture-based methods were employed as the gold standard for comparison.\nResults: Of the 416 isolates, 89% were correctly identified at the species level using the direct method. Among 204 Gram positive cocci, 91.6% were correctly identified, with species-specific rates of 100% for Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus ureilyticus. Out of 160 Gram negative bacilli, 88.1% were accurately identified, with Acinetobacter baumannii showing 97.5% accuracy. Candida species showed a correct identification rate of 80.8%, with 100% identification for Candida albicans and Candida krusei.\nConclusions: Direct microbial identification using MALDI-TOF MS is a rapid, cost-effective alternative to conventional methods, enabling faster pathogen detection and supporting antimicrobial stewardship.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3855\/jidc.21690","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,8]],"date-time":"2026-06-08T09:23:17Z","timestamp":1780910597000},"page":"687-692","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Direct MALDI-TOF MS identification from positive blood culture bottles: a time-saving approach to reduce diagnostic delays"],"prefix":"10.3855","volume":"20","author":[{"given":"Jyotsna","family":"Agarwal","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8245-7722","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nikhil","family":"Raj","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Vikramjeet","family":"Singh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-8489-4624","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Avneesh","family":"Sharma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1850-5969","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anupam","family":"Das","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Manodeep","family":"Sen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"2222","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,31]]},"container-title":["The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.jidc.org\/index.php\/journal\/article\/download\/21690\/3885","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.jidc.org\/index.php\/journal\/article\/download\/21690\/3885","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,8]],"date-time":"2026-06-08T09:23:17Z","timestamp":1780910597000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.jidc.org\/index.php\/journal\/article\/view\/21690"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,31]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"05","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,31]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3855\/jidc.21690","relation":{},"ISSN":["1972-2680"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1972-2680","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,31]]}}}