Nanosphere's Verigene® Blood Culture Assay to Detect Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacterial Outbreak: A Prospective Study on 79 Hematological Patients in a Country with High Prevalence of Antimicrobial Resistance

Infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in hematological patients. We prospectively tested a new molecular assay (Verigene®) in 79 consecutive hematological patients, with sepsis by gram-negative bacteria. A total of 82 gram-negative microorganisms were isolated by blood cultures, of which 76 cases were mono-microbial. Considering the bacteria detectable by the system, the concordance with standard blood cultures was 100%. Resistance genes were detected in 20 of the isolates and 100% were concordant with the phenotypic antibiotic resistance. Overall, this new assay correctly identified 66/82 of all the gram-negative pathogens, yielding a general sensitivity of 80.5%, and providing information on genetic antibiotic resistance in a few hours. This new molecular assay could ameliorate patient management, resulting in a more rational use of antibiotics.