title: The sensitivity of direct identification from positive BacT/ALERT™ (bioMérieux) blood culture bottles by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry is low.
abstract: Recently, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has been presented as a novel method for the direct identification of bacteria from positive blood culture bottles. The rate of the MALDI TOF MS-based identification in the present study from positive BacT/ALERT (bioMérieux, Marcy l'Etoile, France) blood culture bottles was 30%, which is far below the previously reported sensitivities using the BACTEC (Becton Dickinson, Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA) system. We also found evidence that the Biotyper algorithm did not identify a second pathogen in cases of positive BacT/ALERT blood culture bottles containing two different species.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Hygiene and Microbiology, Department of Medical Microbiology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany. florian.szabados@rub.de
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Szabados
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Michels
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaase
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gatermann
mesh_terms: D016470:Bacteremia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D001769:Blood / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization / Q000379:methods*