RESUMO
PURPOSE: Bloodstream infections remain an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Rapid diagnosis can reduce the time from empiric antimicrobial therapy to targeted therapy and improve patient outcomes. METHODOLOGY: The fully automated Unyvero Blood Culture (BCU) Application (Curetis GmbH) can identify a broad panel of pathogens (36 analytes covering over 50 pathogens) and 16 antibiotic resistance gene markers simultaneously in about 5 h. The assay was evaluated in three clinical laboratories in comparison to routine microbiological procedures. RESULTS: A total of 207 blood cultures were included in the study, and 90.5â% of the species identified by culture were covered by the Unyvero BCU panel with an overall sensitivity of 96.8â% and specificity of 99.8â%. The time to result was reduced on average by about 34 h. The assay accurately identified 95â% of the species, including 158/164 monomicrobial and 7/9 polymicrobial cultures. The Unyvero BCU Cartridge detected a large number of resistance markers including mecA (n=57), aac(6')aph(2'') (n=40), one vanB resistance gene, and six instances of blaCTX-M. CONCLUSION: The Unyvero BCU Application provided fast, reliable results, while significantly improving turnaround time in blood culture diagnostics.