Lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) are a common cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Accurate identification of the pathogens causing LRTIs is crucial for ensuring of diagnostic and antibiotic stewardship. The Biofire Pneumonia Panel (BFPP) is a molecular diagnostic test that allows rapid detection of various bacterial and viral pathogens. In this study, we compared the performance of BFPP with standard culture methods for the detection of pathogens. Respiratory samples from 70 patient with suspected LRTIs were tested using both BFPP and standard culture methods. The distribution of isolated bacterial pathogens was analyzed, and the sensitivity and specificity of BFPP were calculated. Additionally, the performance of BFPP in detecting antimicrobial resistance genes was evaluated. The results were compared with those obtained from VITEK-2 antimicrobial susceptibility testing and culture-based methods. Among the suspected LRTI cases, BFPP identified a single pathogen in 32.8% of cases and multiple pathogens in 40% of cases. The standard culture method detected a single pathogen in 47.1% of cases. BFPP showed a sensitivity of 93.9% and a specificity of 45.9% for the total sample. The performance of BFPP in detecting antimicrobial resistance genes varied for different pathogens with overall sensitivity of 40.1% and specificity of 95.9%. The Biofire Pneumonia Panel (BFPP) demonstrated high sensitivity for several bacterial pathogens, indicating its potential as a rapid diagnostic tool. However, its performance varied for different microorganisms, and it had limitations in detecting certain pathogens and antimicrobial resistance genes for which still required more further studies to explore different resistance gene mechanism that can be incorporated in this panel in future. The BFPP can complement standard culture methods as a rapid tool in the diagnosis of LRTIs.

中文翻译：

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生物火肺炎小组和标准培养方法诊断危重患者肺炎的性能比较：对抗生素管理的影响

下呼吸道感染（LRTI）是全世界发病和死亡的常见原因。准确识别引起 LRTI 的病原体对于确保诊断和抗生素管理至关重要。 Biofire 肺炎面板 (BFPP) 是一种分子诊断测试，可以快速检测各种细菌和病毒病原体。在本研究中，我们将 BFPP 的性能与用于检测病原体的标准培养方法进行了比较。使用 BFPP 和标准培养方法对 70 名疑似 LRTI 患者的呼吸道样本进行了测试。分析分离细菌病原体的分布，计算BFPP的敏感性和特异性。此外，还评估了 BFPP 在检测抗菌素耐药基因方面的性能。将结果与 VITEK-2 抗菌药敏测试和基于培养的方法获得的结果进行比较。在疑似 LRTI 病例中，BFPP 在 32.8% 的病例中发现了单一病原体，在 40% 的病例中发现了多种病原体。标准培养方法在 47.1% 的病例中检测到单一病原体。 BFPP 对总样本的敏感性为 93.9%，特异性为 45.9%。 BFPP 在检测抗菌药物耐药基因方面的表现对于不同的病原体有所不同，总体敏感性为 40.1%，特异性为 95.9%。 Biofire 肺炎面板 (BFPP) 对多种细菌病原体表现出高敏感性，表明其作为快速诊断工具的潜力。然而，其对于不同微生物的性能有所不同，并且在检测某些病原体和抗菌素耐药基因方面存在局限性，仍需要进一步的研究来探索未来可以纳入该组合的不同耐药基因机制。 BFPP 可以补充标准培养方法，作为诊断 LRTI 的快速工具。