Respiratory tract infections

Biology

Clearance

Urology

Bronchoalveolar lavage

Immunology

Sputum culture

Microbiology

Lower respiratory tract infection

Tuberculosis

Internal medicine

Respiratory system

Medicine

Pneumonia

Respiratory tract

Sputum

Lung

Pathology

Journal of Clinical Microbiology

The ability to provide timely identification of the causative agents of lower respiratory tract infections can promote better patient outcomes and support antimicrobial stewardship efforts. Current diagnostic testing options include culture, molecular testing, and antigen detection. These methods may require collection of various specimens, involve extensive sample treatment, and can suffer from low sensitivity and long turnaround times. This study assessed the performance of the BioFire FilmArray Pneumonia Panel (PN panel) and Pneumonia Plus Panel (PNplus panel), an FDA-cleared sample-to-answer assay that enables the detection of viruses, atypical bacteria, bacteria, and antimicrobial resistance marker genes from lower respiratory tract specimens (sputum and bronchoalveolar lavage [BAL] fluid).

Multicenter Evaluation of the BioFire FilmArray Pneumonia/Pneumonia Plus Panel for Detection and Quantification of Agents of Lower Respiratory Tract Infection