LAUSR

Abstract Background Pneumonia is a common disease that is a leading cause of mortality worldwide and frequently requires hospital admission. A large number of infectious agents may be involved and as a result of the potential severity of the infection, a clear and quick diagnostic is mandatory in order to take the appropriate decision for the health of the patient. However, a real gap exists between the multiplicity of information required by the practitioner and the diagnostic tools available. Methods After the selection of the multiple gene targets (bacterial viral and resistance gene) to be detected by the HIFI Resp product, the PCR conditions for each target have been defined individually and then in the multiplex PCR format. The multiplex detection assay is performed and specific hybridization events appear on the bottom of the chip. The software (AXOware) automatically process the data and interpreted the results into an efficient and clear medical report that can be directly used by clinicians. Results Within the 23 targets that are implemented on the microarray, 14 are actually specifically detectable by HIFI Resp technology (mp, UL30, npA, sa442, algD, mip, mecA, NDM, IMP, VIM, OXA-23, OXA-48, β-globin and G3PDH). Six bacterial targets (mecC, fucK, KPC, nuc, cpsA and lytA) and three viral target (npB, neur and UL83) have not yet been identified or not in a totally reproducible way. These later are under improvement process. The technology developed allows the detection and characterization of multiple pathogen potentially present in a respiratory sample. Conclusion The HIFI Resp product based on a sample-to-result syndromic approach, with a minimum user intervention during the procedure on a cost efficient automated platform and a short time of analysis is a promising device.