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Hospital-acquired pneumonia: impact of the Curetis Unyvero system

The increasing prevalence of antimicrobial resistance and the burden of disease due to hospital-associated pneumonia prompted Emma Jones and colleagues to investigate a molecular alternative to microbiological culture.

A significant disease burden is attributable to hospital-associated pneumonia (HAP), especially in the intensive care unit (ICU). Owing to the high morbidity and mortality rates associated with HAP, antibiotics are often given empirically, leading to inadequate therapy in up to 40% of cases.1

The gold standard for the diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is microbiological culture of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) specimens, with results taking 48–72 hours. As antimicrobial resistance is becoming increasingly prevalent, it would be of great value to identify bacteria and their resistance mechanisms more rapidly. The Curetis Unyvero is a molecular diagnostics instrument that can identify 21 microorganisms and 19 antibiotic resistance genes in five hours.

This study aims to compare routine microbiological culture of BAL samples with the Curetis Unyvero in the diagnosis of pneumonia in adult intensive care units – could this replace or supplement the current service? – and retrospectively review whether or not patient management would have been changed had the Unyvero data been made available to clinicians in real time.

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Upcoming Events

USCAP 113th Annual Meeting

Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
23-28 March, 2024

Pathology Horizons 2024

MacDonald Bath Spa Hotel, Bath
18-20 April, 2024

Diagnostics North East Conference 2024

The Catalyst, Newcastle upon Tyne
19 April, 2024

ECCMID 2024 - European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

Fira Gran Via, 08038 Barcelona, Spain
27-30 April 2024

British Society for Microbial Technology Annual Microbiology Conference

UK Health Security Agency, Colindale, London
2 May 2024

EQA Reports: Interpreting Key Information & Troubleshooting Tips

ONLINE - Zoom
Thursday 16th May 2024

Access the latest issue of Pathology In Practice on your mobile device together with an archive of back issues.

Download the FREE Pathology In Practice app from your device's App store

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