Recent Developments in Phenotypic and Molecular Diagnostic Methods for Antimicrobial Resistance Detection in Staphylococcus aureus: A Narrative Review

Staphylococcus aureus is an opportunistic pathogen responsible for a wide range of infections in humans, such as skin and soft tissue infections, pneumonia, food poisoning or sepsis. Historically, S. aureus was able to rapidly adapt to anti-staphylococcal antibiotics and become resistant to several classes of antibiotics. Today, methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) is a multidrug-resistant pathogen and is one of the most common bacteria responsible for hospital-acquired infections and outbreaks, in community settings as well. The rapid and accurate diagnosis of antimicrobial resistance in S. aureus is crucial to the early initiation of directed antibiotic therapy and to improve clinical outcomes for patients. In this narrative review, I provide an overview of recent phenotypic and molecular diagnostic methods for antimicrobial resistance detection in S. aureus, with a particular focus on MRSA detection. I consider methods for resistance detection in both clinical samples and isolated S. aureus cultures, along with a brief discussion of the advantages and the challenges of implementing such methods in routine diagnostics.

Equivalence of the GeneXpert System and GeneXpert Omni System for tuberculosis and rifampicin resistance detection

A laboratory validation study was conducted to assess the equivalence of Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra testing on the GeneXpert System and the GeneXpert Omni System (‘Omni’) for tuberculosis and rifampicin resistance. High concordance of the two devices was demonstrated for well-characterized clinical samples as well as control materials, with controls tested on Omni at normal and challenging environmental conditions (i.e. 35°C, 90% relative humidity). Equivalence of the Cts for all probes was also shown. Equivalence was demonstrated for the Omni and GeneXpert devices for tuberculosis and rifampicin resistance detection for a diverse range of clinical specimens and environmental conditions.

Clinical evaluation of the Xpert MTB/XDR assay for rapid detection of isoniazid, fluoroquinolone, ethionamide and second-line drug resistance: A cross-sectional multicentre diagnostic accuracy study

Background The WHO End TB Strategy requires universal drug susceptibility testing and treatment of all people with tuberculosis. However, available second-line diagnostic tools are cumbersome and require sophisticated laboratory infrastructure, and ultimately less than half of those with drug-resistant tuberculosis receive appropriate treatment. Xpert MTB/XDR was developed to help overcome these limitations. Methods We assessed the diagnostic accuracy of sputum-based Xpert MTB/XDR for isoniazid, fluoroquinolone, ethionamide and second-line injectable resistance detection in adults with an Xpert MTB/RIF or Ultra Mycobacterium tuberculosis-positive result against a composite reference standard of phenotypic drug-susceptibility testing and whole genome sequencing (NCT03728725). Participants with pulmonary tuberculosis symptoms and ≥1 risk factor for drug resistance were consecutively enrolled between four clinical sites in India, Moldova and South Africa. Findings Between 31 July 2019 and 21 March 2020, we enrolled 710 patients, of which 611 (86.1%) had results from index and composite reference standard tests and were included in analysis. The sensitivity of Xpert MTB/XDR was 94% for isoniazid, 95% for fluoroquinolones, 54% for ethionamide, 73% for amikacin, 86% for kanamycin, and 61% for capreomycin resistance detection. Specificity was 98-100% for all drugs. Performance was equivalent to line-probe assays. The non-determinate rate of Xpert MTB/XDR was 2.96%. Interpretation This first prospective, multicentre clinical study of the Xpert MTB/XDR assay demonstrated high diagnostic test accuracy, meeting target product profile criteria for a next-generation drug susceptibility test. Funding German Federal Ministry of Education and Research through KfW, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Day at the Races: Comparing BioFire FilmArray Blood Culture ID Panels to Verigene Blood Culture in Gram-negative Bloodstream Infections using DOOR-MAT Analysis

Three RDT platforms (Verigene BC-GN, BioFire® BCID, and BCID 2 (RUO)) were compared using the Desirability of Outcome Ranking Management of Antimicrobial Therapy (DOOR -MAT) to evaluate potential downstream antimicrobial prescribing decisions resulting from the panels different organism and resistance detection. BioFire BCID (RUO) had the best mean DOOR-MAT scores.