LAUSR

To the Editor: Lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) are among the deadliest diseases and remain one of the leading causes of death over the last 15 years, especially in low-income countries, and are of great concern to immunosuppressed individuals. Infections located in the peripheral lung field (PLF) are located within the outerthird elliptical regions around the hilum on computedtomography (CT) scans. They are surrounded by normal lung parenchyma and are unlikely to be visualized and accurately diagnosed by bronchoscopy. Recent studies have demonstrated the value of virtual bronchoscopic navigation (VBN)-assisted bronchoscopy as a diagnostic tool for small peripheral pulmonary lesions. Metagenomics next-generation sequencing (mNGS) is a new sequencing method comparable to first-generation DNAsequencing technology. Using mNGS, we can perform high-throughput sequencing on clinical samples to analyze microbial communities. mNGS only requires a small amount of DNA directly taken from the sample, in order to screen for pathogens, as well as a bioinformatics tool, which identifies pathogens by linking sequencing reads to an accurate reference genome (or marker) database. The purpose of the present study was to explore the value of VBN combined with mNGS as a potential diagnostic tool in adults hospitalized with LRTIs.