Accelerated Bacterial Identification with MALDI-TOF MS Leads to Fewer Diagnostic Tests and Cost Savings.

Introduction: Rapid microbiology reporting can enhance both clinical and economic outcomes.

Material And Methods: This three-year, quasi-experimental study, single-group pretest-posttest study, conducted at a university medical center, aimed to evaluate the clinical and economic impact of rapid microbiological identification reporting using MALDI-TOF MS. A total of 363 consecutive hospitalized patients with bacterial infections were evaluated, comparing a historical control group (CG, n = 183) with an intervention group (IG, = 180).

Bacteriophage Therapy as a Promising Alternative for Antibiotic-Resistant : Advances and Challenges.

is a Gram-positive bacterium increasingly identified as a critical nosocomial pathogen that poses significant treatment challenges due to its resistance to multiple antibiotics, particularly vancomycin-resistant (VRE) strains. The urgent need for alternative therapeutic strategies has renewed interest in bacteriophage (phage) therapy, given phages specificity and bactericidal potential. This review explores the advancements in phage therapy against antibiotic-resistant , including phage morphological diversity, genomic characteristics, and infection mechanisms.

The importance of microbiology reference laboratories and adequate funding for infectious disease surveillance.

Microbiology reference laboratories perform a crucial role within public health systems. This role was especially evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this Viewpoint, we emphasise the importance of microbiology reference laboratories and highlight the types of digital data and expertise they provide, which benefit national and international public health.