The 2024 ASM Awards and Prize Program-recognizing excellence in the microbiological sciences.

The ASM Awards and Prize Program recognizes outstanding achievements in basic and applied research, clinical microbiology, education, leadership, and service. This editorial briefly describes how the program works and highlights several awards of interest to the clinical microbiology community.

Prevalence of astrovirus and sapovirus among adult oncology patients with acute gastroenteritis using a multiplexed gastrointestinal pathogen PCR panel.

BACKGROUND: Multiplex syndromic gastrointestinal panels (GIPCR) have streamlined the diagnosis of infectious diarrhea. Additionally, they have expanded the number of pathogens that can be routinely evaluated, allowing further understanding of the prevalence of enteric pathogens in various patient populations. The goal of this study was to investigate the prevalence and clinical presentation of astrovirus and sapovirus gastroenteritis in adult oncology patients as detected by the FilmArray GIPCR. METHODS: All GIPCR panel results from December 2017 to June 2021 were retrospectively reviewed to determine the prevalence of astrovirus and sapovirus in adult oncology patients. Medical records were also reviewed to obtain clinical information. Repeat GIPCR positivity and symptom duration were used to estimate prolonged viral shedding. RESULTS: A total of 18,014 panels were performed on samples collected from 9303 adults. Overall, astrovirus and sapovirus were detected in 0.35% (33/9303) and 0.45% (42/9303) GIPCRs respectively. At least one viral target was detected in 424 (4.4%) patients. Astrovirus accounted for 7.8% (33/424) and sapovirus 9.9% (42/424) of patients. Diarrhea was the most common symptom documented. A subset of transplant patients had protracted viral detection with a median of ~27 days (range 23-43 days) for astrovirus and 97 days (range 11-495) for sapovirus. No clusters or outbreaks were identified during the study period. CONCLUSION: In oncology patients with viral gastroenteritis, astrovirus and sapovirus were the causative agents in 18% of the cases. Both viruses were associated with mild disease. Prolonged diarrhea and viral shedding were observed in a few transplant patients.

Predictors of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Hospitalization After Sotrovimab in Patients With Hematologic Malignancy During the BA.1 Omicron Surge.

BACKGROUND: Sotrovimab is an anti-spike neutralization monoclonal antibody developed to reduce the risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) progression and advancement to hospitalization in high-risk patients. Currently, there is limited research describing the association of sotrovimab treatment in patients with hematologic malignancy and the predictive factors of hospitalization. METHODS: We performed an observational study of 156 consecutive cancer patients who received sotrovimab at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City during the BA.1 Omicron surge. We evaluated the demographic, clinical, and laboratory characteristics of the patients who had subsequent COVID-19-related hospitalization(s) compared to those who did not. RESULTS: Among the 156 study patients, 17 (11%) were hospitalized, of whom 4 were readmitted for COVID-19-related complications; 3 deaths were attributed to COVID-19. Results from multivariable logistic regression show that significant factors associated with hospitalization include patients on anti-CD20 therapy (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 5.59 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 1.73-18.12]; P = .004) and with relapse/refractory disease (aOR, 5.69 [95% CI, 1.69-19.16]; P = .005). Additionally, whole genome sequencing of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 detected high occurrences of mutations in the spike gene associated with treatment-related resistance longitudinal samples from 11 patients treated with sotrovimab. CONCLUSIONS: While sotrovimab is effective at reducing COVID-19 hospitalization and disease severity in patients with hematologic malignancy when administered early, patients who received anti-CD20 antibodies showed substantial morbidity. Due to the high potential for resistance mutation to sotrovimab and increased morbidity in patients on anti-CD20 therapy, combination treatment should be explored to determine whether it provides added benefits compared to monotherapy.

Predictors of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron breakthrough infection after receipt of AZD7442 (tixagevimab-cilgavimab) for pre-exposure prophylaxis among hematologic malignancy patients.

AZD7442 (tixagevimab-cilgavimab) is a combination of two human monoclonal antibodies for pre-exposure prophylaxis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection among high-risk patients who do not mount a reliable vaccine response. Foremost among these are hematologic malignancy patients with limited clinical trial or realworld experience to assess the effectiveness of this combination treatment since the emergence of Omicron and its subvariants. We performed a retrospective study of 892 high-risk hematologic malignancy patients who received AZD7442 at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City from January 1, 2022 to July 31, 2022. We evaluated demographic, clinical, and laboratory characteristics and performed regression analyses to evaluate risk factors for breakthrough infection. We also evaluated the impact of updated AZD7442 dosing regimens on the risk of breakthrough infection. Among 892 patients, 98 (10.9%) had a breakthrough infection during the study period. A majority received early outpatient treatment (82%) and eventually eight (8.2%) required hospitalization for management of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), with a single instance of severe COVID-19 and death. Patients who received a repeat dose or a higher firsttime dose of AZD7442 had a lower incidence of breakthrough infection. Univariate analyses did not reveal any significant predictors of breakthrough infection. While AZD7442 is effective at reducing SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infection in patients with hematologic malignancies, no risk factors reliably predicted risk of infection. Patients who received updated dosing regimens as per Food and Drug Administration guidelines had better protection against breakthrough infection.

Epidemiology and Outcomes of Non-albicans Candida Bloodstream Infections in Transplant Recipients and Cancer Patients.

We performed a retrospective survey of non-Candida albicans candidemia in patients with cancer, including those with solid tumors and those with hematological malignancies as well as transplants patients both, solid-organ transplant recipients and hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients. The study was performed at two healthcare centers in New York City and covered the years 2018-2022. A total of 292 patients (318 isolates) were included in the study. In order of frequency, C. glabrata (38%) was the most common species recovered, followed by C. parapsilosis (19.2%), C. tropicalis (12.6%), C. krusei (10.7%), C. lusitaniae (5.7%), and C. guilliermondii (4.4%). Micafungin was the most common antifungal treatment and 18.5% of patients were on antifungal prophylaxis. The 30-day crude mortality was 40%. 4.5% of patients had more than one non-albicans species detected. In conclusion, this study represents one of the largest surveys of non-albicans species in cancer and transplant patients and provides data on the current epidemiology of these Candida species in this patient population.

Risk of Healthcare-Associated Transmission of Sever Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Hospitalized Cancer Patients.

BACKGROUND: There is limited information on the risk of hospital-acquired coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among high-risk hospitalized patients after exposure to an infected patient or healthcare worker (HCW) in a nonoutbreak setting. METHODS: This study was conducted at a tertiary care cancer center in New York City from 10 March 2020 until 28 February 2021. In early April 2020, the study institution implemented universal severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) testing at admission and retesting every 3 days through the hospital stay. Contact tracing records were reviewed for all exposures to SARS-CoV-2 positive patients and HCWs. RESULTS: From 10 March 2020 to 28 February 2021, 11 348 unique patients who were SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) negative at the time of admission underwent 31 662 postadmission tests during their hospitalization, and 112 tested positive (0.98%). Among these, 49 patients housed in semiprivate rooms during admission resulted in 74 close contacts and 14 secondary infections within 14 days, for an overall attack rate of 18.9%. Among those exposed to a roommate undergoing an aerosol-generating procedure (AGP), the attack rate was 35.7%. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) corroborated transmission in 6/8 evaluated pairs. In addition, three transmission events occurred in 214 patients with significant exposure to 105 COVID-19 positive healthcare workers (1.4%). CONCLUSIONS: The overall risk of hospital-acquired COVID-19 is low for hospitalized cancer patients, even during periods of high community prevalence. However, shared occupancy with an unrecognized case is associated with a high secondary attack rate in exposed roommates.

Partial ORF1ab Gene Target Failure with Omicron BA.2.12.1.

Mutations in the genome of SARS-CoV-2 can affect the performance of molecular diagnostic assays. In some cases, such as S-gene target failure, the impact can serve as a unique indicator of a particular SARS-CoV-2 variant and provide a method for rapid detection. Here, we describe partial ORF1ab gene target failure (pOGTF) on the cobas SARS-CoV-2 assays, defined by a ≥2-thermocycle delay in detection of the ORF1ab gene compared to that of the E-gene. We demonstrate that pOGTF is 98.6% sensitive and 99.9% specific for SARS-CoV-2 lineage BA.2.12.1, an emerging variant in the United States with spike L452Q and S704L mutations that may affect transmission, infectivity, and/or immune evasion. Increasing rates of pOGTF closely mirrored rates of BA.2.12.1 sequences uploaded to public databases, and, importantly, increasing local rates of pOGTF also mirrored increasing overall test positivity. Use of pOGTF as a proxy for BA.2.12.1 provides faster tracking of the variant than whole-genome sequencing and can benefit laboratories without sequencing capabilities.

Atypical pathogens presenting with pulmonary consolidations detected by cell-free DNA next-generation sequencing in patients with hematologic malignancies.

Identification of pathogens with pulmonary presentation in patients with hematologic malignancies may be challenging due to diagnostic difficulty related to the underlying malignancy and limitations of conventional microbiologic methods. Herein, we present a case series of three patients with pulmonary consolidations due to Legionella bozemanae necrotizing pneumonia, Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia, and disseminated Scedosporium infection, who were diagnosed by microbial cell-free DNA next-generation sequencing. We observed that this new sequencing modality was in agreement with gold-standard diagnostics, posing a potential solution to the problem of limited capability in diagnosing infections in hematological malignancy patients.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Surveillance and Exposure in the Perioperative Setting With Universal Testing and Personal Protective Equipment Policies.

BACKGROUND: New York City (NYC) experienced a surge of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in March and April 2020. Since then, universal polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based surveillance testing and personal protective equipment (PPE) measures are in wide use in procedural settings. There is limited published experience on the utility and sustainability of PCR-based surveillance testing in areas with receding and consistently low community COVID-19 rates. METHODS: The study was conducted at a tertiary care cancer center in NYC from 22 March to 22 August 2020. Asymptomatic patients underwent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) testing before surgeries, interventional radiology procedures, and endoscopy. Contact tracing in procedural areas was done if a patient with an initial negative screen retested positive within 48 hours of the procedure. RESULTS: From March 22 until August 22, 2020, 11 540 unique patients underwent 14 233 tests before surgeries or procedures at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Overall, 65 patients were positive, with a peak rate of 4.3% that fell below 0.3% after April 2020. Among the 65 positive cases, 3 were presymptomatic and 38 were asymptomatic. Among asymptomatic test-positive patients, 76% had PCR cycle threshold >30 at first detection. Five patients tested newly positive in the immediate postoperative period, exposing 82 employees with 1 case of probable transmission (1.2%). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection identified on preprocedural surveillance was low in our study, which was conducted in an area with limited community spread at the later stage of the study. Universal PPE is protective in procedural settings. Optimal and flexible diagnostic strategies are needed to accomplish and sustain the goals of comprehensive preprocedure surveillance testing.

Performance of the sona Aspergillus Galactomannan Lateral Flow Assay in a Cancer Patient Population.

The diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis can be challenging in cancer patients. Herein, the analytical and clinical performance of the sona Aspergillus galactomannan lateral flow assay (GM LFA) was evaluated and its performance compared to that of the Bio-Rad galactomannan enzyme immunoassay (GM EIA). Serum and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid samples received for GM EIA testing between March and August 2019 were included. Positive and negative percent agreement (PPA and NPA) were calculated for the GM LFA compared to the GM EIA. Discrepant analysis was performed by review of the patient's medical records assessing for any evidence of a fungal infection. Five hundred thirty-three samples (85 BAL samples and 448 serum samples) from 379 patients were included in the study. The overall PPA and NPA were 100% (95% confidence interval [CI], 72.2 to 100%) and 97.5% (95% CI, 95.5 to 98.4%), respectively. Fourteen of 24 samples were positive by LFA only. The sensitivity of the GM LFA for proven and probable invasive aspergillosis (IA) was 100% (95% CI, 51.0 to 100%) and 87.5% (95% CI, 55.9 to 99.4%), with a specificity of 95.5% (95% CI, 92.3 to 97.2%) and 96.2% (95% CI, 93.4 to 97.7%), respectively. The sensitivity of the GM EIA for proven and probable IA was 25% (95% CI, 1.28 to 69.9%) and 62.5% (95% CI, 30.6 to 86.3%), with a specificity of 98.2% (95% CI, 96.2 to 99.1%) and 99.2% (95% CI, 97.7 to 99.8%), respectively. The Aspergillus GM LFA outperformed the Aspergillus GM EIA for the detection of the galactomannan antigen in our patient population. The simplicity and rapid time to results makes the Aspergillus GM LFA easy to implement in a wide range of laboratory settings.

Evaluation of a Combined Multilocus Sequence Typing and Whole-Genome Sequencing Two-Step Algorithm for Routine Typing of Clostridioides difficile.

Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) is a low-resolution but rapid genotyping method for Clostridioides difficile Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) has emerged as the new gold standard for C. difficile typing, but cost and lack of standardization still limit broad utilization. In this study, we evaluated the potential to combine the portability of MLST with the increased resolution of WGS for a cost-saving approach to routine C. difficile typing. C. difficile strains from two New York City hospitals (hospital A and hospital B) were selected. WGS single-nucleotide polymorphism (wgSNP) was performed using established methods. Sequence types (ST) were determined using PubMLST, while wgSNP analysis was performed using the Bionumerics software. An additional analysis of a subset of data (hospital A) was made comparing the Bionumerics software to the CosmosID pipeline. Cost and turnaround time to results were compared for the algorithmic approach of MLST followed by wgSNP versus direct wgSNP. Among the 202 C. difficile isolates typed, 91% (n = 185/203) clustered within the representative ST, showing a high agreement between MLST and wgSNP. While clustering was similar between the Bionumerics and CosmosID pipelines, large differences in the overall number of SNPs were noted. A two-step algorithm for routine typing results in significantly lower cost than routine use of WGS. Our results suggest that using MLST as a first step in routine typing of C. difficile followed by WGS for MLST concordant strains is a less technically demanding, cost-saving approach for performing C. difficile typing than WGS alone without loss of discriminatory power.

Recognition of Diagnostic Gaps for Laboratory Diagnosis of Fungal Diseases: Expert Opinion from the Fungal Diagnostics Laboratories Consortium (FDLC).

Fungal infections are a rising threat to our immunocompromised patient population, as well as other nonimmunocompromised patients with various medical conditions. However, little progress has been made in the past decade to improve fungal diagnostics. To jointly address this diagnostic challenge, the Fungal Diagnostics Laboratory Consortium (FDLC) was recently created. The FDLC consists of 26 laboratories from the United States and Canada that routinely provide fungal diagnostic services for patient care. A survey of fungal diagnostic capacity among the 26 members of the FDLC was recently completed, identifying the following diagnostic gaps: lack of molecular detection of mucormycosis; lack of an optimal diagnostic algorithm incorporating fungal biomarkers and molecular tools for early and accurate diagnosis of Pneumocystis pneumonia, aspergillosis, candidemia, and endemic mycoses; lack of a standardized molecular approach to identify fungal pathogens directly in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues; lack of robust databases to enhance mold identification with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry; suboptimal diagnostic approaches for mold blood cultures, tissue culture processing for Mucorales, and fungal respiratory cultures for cystic fibrosis patients; inadequate capacity for fungal point-of-care testing to detect and identify new, emerging or underrecognized, rare, or uncommon fungal pathogens; and performance of antifungal susceptibility testing. In this commentary, the FDLC delineates the most pressing unmet diagnostic needs and provides expert opinion on how to fulfill them. Most importantly, the FDLC provides a robust laboratory network to tackle these diagnostic gaps and ultimately to improve and enhance the clinical laboratory's capability to rapidly and accurately diagnose fungal infections.

Multicenter Evaluation of a PCR-Based Digital Microfluidics and Electrochemical Detection System for the Rapid Identification of 15 Fungal Pathogens Directly from Positive Blood Cultures.

Routine identification of fungal pathogens from positive blood cultures by culture-based methods can be time-consuming, delaying treatment with appropriate antifungal agents. The GenMark Dx ePlex investigational use only blood culture identification fungal pathogen panel (BCID-FP) rapidly detects 15 fungal targets simultaneously in blood culture samples positive for fungi by Gram staining. We aimed to determine the performance of the BCID-FP in a multicenter clinical study. Blood culture samples collected at 10 United States sites and tested with BCID-FP at 4 sites were compared to the standard-of-care microbiological and biochemical techniques, fluorescence in situ hybridization using peptide nucleic acid probes (PNA-FISH) and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Discrepant results were analyzed by bi-directional PCR/sequencing of residual blood culture samples. A total of 866 clinical samples, 120 retrospectively and 21 prospectively collected, along with 725 contrived samples were evaluated. Sensitivity and specificity of detection of Candida species (C. albicans, C. auris, C. dubliniensis, C. famata, C. glabrata, C. guilliermondii, C. kefyr, C. krusei, C. lusitaniae, C. parapsilosis, and C. tropicalis) ranged from 97.1 to 100% and 99.8 to 100%, respectively. For the other organism targets, sensitivity and specificity were as follows: 100% each for Cryptococcus neoformans and C. gattii, 98.6% and 100% for Fusarium spp., and 96.2% and 99.9% for Rhodotorula spp., respectively. In 4 of the 141 clinical samples, the BCID-FP panel correctly identified an additional Candida species, undetected by standard-of-care methods. The BCID-FP panel offers a faster turnaround time for identification of fungal pathogens in positive blood cultures that may allow for earlier antifungal interventions and includes C. auris, a highly multidrug-resistant fungus.

Clinical Performance of (1,3) Beta-D Glucan for the Diagnosis of Pneumocystis Pneumonia (PCP) in Cancer Patients Tested With PCP Polymerase Chain Reaction.

BACKGROUND: Serum (1,3)-beta-D glucan (BDG) is increasingly used to guide the management of suspected Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP). BDG lacks specificity for PCP, and its clinical performance in high-risk cancer patients has not been fully assessed. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for PCP detection is highly sensitive, but cannot differentiate between colonization and infection. We evaluated the diagnostic performance of serum BDG in conjunction with PCP PCR on respiratory samples in patients with cancer and unexplained lung infiltrates. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of adult patients evaluated for PCP at our institution from 2012 to 2015, using serum BDG and PCP PCR. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of the serum BDG at different thresholds were evaluated using PCP PCR alone or in conjunction with clinical presentation in PCP PCR-positive patients. RESULTS: With PCP PCR alone as the reference method, BDG (≥80 pg/mL) had a sensitivity of 69.8%, specificity of 81.2%, PPV of 34.6%, and NPV of 95.2% for PCP. At ≥200 pg/mL in patients with a positive PCR and a compatible PCP clinical syndrome, BDG had a sensitivity of 70%, specificity of 100%, PPV of 100%, and NPV of 52.0% for PCP. CONCLUSIONS: Patients negative by both BDG and PCR were unlikely to have PCP. In patients with a compatible clinical syndrome for PCP, higher BDG values (>200 pg/mL) were consistently associated with clinically-significant PCP infections among PCP PCR-positive oncology patients.

False-Positive Results for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Nucleic Acid Amplification Testing in Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell Therapy.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell immunotherapy has been a major advancement in cancer therapeutics. Reprogramming of T cells is achieved by using gammaretroviral or lentiviral vectors, which may interfere with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT). Here, we describe three clinical scenarios in which CAR T cell immunotherapy interfered with HIV-1 testing, including (i) routine infectious disease screening prior to stem cell transplantation in a 16-year-old female with B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, post CAR T cell treatment; (ii) routine infectious disease screening prior to second CAR T cell collection in a 65-year-old male with diffuse large B cell lymphoma who failed initial CAR T cell treatment; and (iii) routine infectious risk assessment following an occupational health exposure from a 58-year-old male with multiple myeloma, who received CAR T cell treatment. In each case, patients initially tested negative by the "fourth-generation" HIV-1 screening enzyme immunoassay (targeting the p24 antigen and anti-HIV-1 antibodies), but positive by the Roche Cobas AmpliPrep/Cobas TaqMan HIV-1 test v2.0 (targeting gag and the long terminal repeat [LTR]). These samples subsequently retested negative using the Abbott m2000 RealTime HIV-1 assay, which targets the integrase gene. These results indicated that cross-reactions between lentiviral vectors and LTR genomes targeted in the HIV-1 NAAT caused the HIV-1 NAAT false-positive results.

Artificial Differences in Clostridium difficile Infection Rates Associated with Disparity in Testing.

In 2015, Clostridium difficile testing rates among 30 US community, multispecialty, and cancer hospitals were 14.0, 16.3, and 33.9/1,000 patient-days, respectively. Pooled hospital onset rates were 0.56, 0.84, and 1.57/1,000 patient-days, respectively. Higher testing rates may artificially inflate reported rates of C. difficile infection. C. difficile surveillance should consider testing frequency.

Multicenter Evaluation of the Vitek MS v3.0 System for the Identification of Filamentous Fungi.

Invasive fungal infections are an important cause of morbidity and mortality affecting primarily immunocompromised patients. While fungal identification to the species level is critical to providing appropriate therapy, it can be slow and laborious and often relies on subjective morphological criteria. The use of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry has the potential to speed up and improve the accuracy of identification. In this multicenter study, we evaluated the accuracy of the Vitek MS v3.0 system in identifying 1,601 clinical mold isolates compared to identification by DNA sequence analysis and supported by morphological and phenotypic testing. Among the 1,519 isolates representing organisms in the v3.0 database, 91% (n = 1,387) were correctly identified to the species level. An additional 27 isolates (2%) were correctly identified to the genus level. Fifteen isolates were incorrectly identified, due to either a single incorrect identification (n = 13) or multiple identifications from different genera (n = 2). In those cases, when a single identification was provided that was not correct, the misidentification was within the same genus. The Vitek MS v3.0 was unable to identify 91 (6%) isolates, despite repeat testing. These isolates were distributed among all the genera. When considering all isolates tested, even those that were not represented in the database, the Vitek MS v3.0 provided a single correct identification 98% of the time. These findings demonstrate that the Vitek MS v3.0 system is highly accurate for the identification of common molds encountered in the clinical mycology laboratory.

Multicenter Evaluation of the ePlex Respiratory Pathogen Panel for the Detection of Viral and Bacterial Respiratory Tract Pathogens in Nasopharyngeal Swabs.

The performance of the new ePlex Respiratory Pathogen (RP) panel (GenMark Diagnostics) for the simultaneous detection of 19 viruses (influenza A virus; influenza A H1 virus; influenza A 2009 H1 virus; influenza A H3 virus; influenza B virus; adenovirus; coronaviruses [HKU1, OC43, NL63, and 229E]; human rhinovirus/enterovirus; human metapneumovirus; parainfluenza viruses 1, 2, 3, and 4; and respiratory syncytial virus [RSV] [RSV subtype A and RSV subtype B]) and 2 bacteria (Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Chlamydia pneumoniae) was evaluated. Prospectively and retrospectively collected nasopharyngeal swab (NPS) specimens (n = 2,908) were evaluated by using the ePlex RP panel, with the bioMérieux/BioFire FilmArray Respiratory Panel (BioFire RP) as the comparator method. Discordance analysis was performed by using target-specific PCRs and bidirectional sequencing. The reproducibility of the assay was evaluated by using reproducibility panels comprised of 6 pathogens. The overall agreement between the ePlex RP and BioFire RP results was >95% for all targets. Positive percent agreement with the BioFire RP result for viruses ranged from 85.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 80.2% to 88.9%) to 95.1% (95% CI, 89.0% to 97.9%), while negative percent agreement values ranged from 99.5% (95% CI, 99.1% to 99.7%) to 99.8% (95% CI, 99.5% to 99.9%). Additional testing of discordant targets (12%; 349/2,908) confirmed the results of ePlex RP for 38% (131/349) of samples tested. Reproducibility was 100% for all targets tested, with the exception of adenovirus, for which reproducibilities were 91.6% at low virus concentrations and 100% at moderate virus concentrations. The ePlex RP panel offers a new, rapid, and sensitive "sample-to-answer" multiplex panel for the detection of the most common viral and bacterial respiratory pathogens.

Performance of Vitek MS v3.0 for Identification of Mycobacterium Species from Patient Samples by Use of Automated Liquid Medium Systems.

The accuracy and robustness of the Vitek MS v3.0 matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) system was evaluated by identifying mycobacteria from automated liquid-medium systems using patient samples. This is the first report to demonstrate that proteins within the liquid medium, its supplements, and decontamination reagents for nonsterile patient samples do not generate misidentification or false-positive results by use of the Vitek MS v3.0 system. Prior to testing with patient samples, a seeded-culture study was conducted to challenge the accuracy of the Vitek MS system at identifying mycobacteria from liquid medium by mimicking a clinical workflow. Seventy-seven Mycobacterium strains representing 21 species, seeded in simulated sputum, were decontaminated, inoculated into BacT/Alert MP liquid culture medium, incubated until positivity, and identified using the Vitek MS system. A total of 383 liquid cultures were tested, of which 379 (99%) were identified correctly to the species/complex/group level, 4 (1%) gave a "no-identification" result, and no misidentifications were observed. Following the simulated-sputum study, a total of 73 smear-positive liquid-medium cultures detected using BD BBL MGIT and VersaTREK Myco liquid media were identified by the Vitek MS system. Sixty-four cultures (87.7%) were correctly identified to the species/complex/group level; 7 (9.6%) resulted in no identification; and 2 (2.7%) were misidentified at the species level. These results indicate that the Vitek MS v3.0 system is an accurate tool for routine diagnostics of Mycobacterium species isolated from liquid cultures.