Same Day Simultaneous Diagnosis of Bacterial and Fungal Infections in Clinical Practice by Nanopore Targeted Sequencing

BACKGROUND: As approximately 19% of global deaths are attributable to infectious diseases, early diagnosis of infection is very important to reduce mortality. Traditional infection detection strategies have limited sensitivity, detection range, and turnaround times; a detection technology that can simultaneously detect bacterial and fungal infections within 24 h is urgently need in clinical settings. METHODS: We developed nanopore targeted sequencing (NTS) for same-day simultaneous diagnosis of fungal and bacterial infections. NTS was developed by amplification of 16s rRNA gene (for bacteria), IST1/2 gene (for fungal), and rpoB (for Mycobacterium spp.) using multiple primers, and sequenced by a real-time nanopore sequencing platform. An in-house bioinformatic analyze pipeline was used to diagnose the infectious pathogens by mapping the sequencing results with the constructed databases. RESULTS: Comparison of 1312 specimens from 1257 patients using NTS and culture method; NTS detected pathogens in 58.71% of specimens from patients, compared to 22.09% detected using the culture method. NTS showed significantly higher sensitivity than culture methods for many pathogens. Importantly, a turnaround time of <24 h for all specimens, and a pre-report within 6 h in emergency cases was possible in clinical practice. Modification of antibiotic therapy and maintenance of original anti-infection regimens in 51.52% (17/33) and 36.36% (12/33) of patients was in accordance with NTS results, and quantitative monitoring of clinical treatment effects was evaluated in four patients by continuous NTS tests. CONCLUSIONS: Application of NTS in clinically detected pathogens can improve targeted antibiotic treatment and therapeutic monitoring.