According to the researchers, a number of factors limit the value of traditional pneumonia diagnostics in clinical practice. The researchers aimed to quantify the increase in the diagnostic yield of microbiologic work-up with the addition of the BioFire® FilmArray® pneumonia panel and study the potential for antimicrobial optimisation from the incorporation of the panel in practice.
The study included 70 adult patients with pneumonia between May 2019 and January 2020. The researchers say that 69 of the patients completed a five day antimicrobial course for pneumonia and 14.3 percent died during hospitalisation. The pneumonia panel was performed on high-quality sputum specimens and the results were prospectively compared with sputum cultures and other tests performed per standard-of-care.
The researchers conclude that the incorporation of the pneumonia panel in the analysis of the condition significantly increased the rate of microbiologic diagnosis and revealed many opportunities for antimicrobial optimisation. The scientists say that incorporation of this commercially available panel, that has the ability to provide actionable results within hours of testing, has the potential to change the diagnosis and treatment of pneumonia.
The findings were published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases.
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