Laboratory diagnosis of pneumonia in the molecular age.
Pneumonia remains a worldwide health problem with a high rate of morbidity and mortality. Identification of microbial pathogens which cause pneumonia is an important area for optimum clinical management of pneumonia patients and is a big challenge for conventional microbiological methods. The development and implementation of molecular diagnostic tests for pneumonia has been a major advance in the microbiological diagnosis of respiratory pathogens in recent years. However, with new knowledge regarding the microbiome, together with the recognition that the lungs are a dynamic microbiological ecosystem, our current concept of pneumonia is not totally realistic as this new concept of pneumonia involves a dysbiosis or alteration of the lung microbiome. A new challenge for microbiologists and clinicians has therefore arisen. There is much to learn regarding the information provided by this new diagnostic technology, which will lead to improvements in the time to antibiotic therapy, targeted antibiotic selection and more effective de-escalation and improved stewardship for pneumonia patients. This article provides an overview of current methods of laboratory diagnosis of pneumonia in the molecular age.
Dept of Pneumology, Institut Clinic del Tórax, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), University of Barcelona, Ciber de Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), Barcelona, Spain atorres@clinic.ub.es.
Antoni
A
Torres
Division of Infectious Diseases, Dept of Medicine and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Nelson
N
Lee
Dept of Pneumology, Institut Clinic del Tórax, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), University of Barcelona, Ciber de Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), Barcelona, Spain.
Catia
C
Cilloniz
Servei de Microbiologia, Hospital Clinic, ISGlobal, Barcelona Ctr. Int. Health Res. (CRESIB), School of Medicine, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Jordi
J
Vila
Dept of Respiratory Medicine, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Menno
M
Van der Eerden
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008828:Microbiological Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents