Efficient assay for evaluating drug efficacy and synergy against emerging SARS-CoV-2 strains.

Novel and repurposed antiviral drugs are available for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, antiviral combinations may be more potent and lead to faster viral clearance, but the methods for screening antiviral combinations against respiratory viruses are not well established and labor-intensive. Here, we describe a time-efficient (72-96 h) and simple drug-sensitivity assay for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) using standard 96-well plates.

A novel diagnostic method for a rare fungus: FcMBL facilitates identification in an immunocompromised neonate.

Fungemia negatively impacts patient outcomes, current diagnostics lack sensitivity to identify emerging rare mycoses, and fungal infections are increasing in prevalence, variety, and resistance. We report a case of in an immunocompromised neonate in which FcMBL bead-based matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) resulted in species identification roughly 30 hours before standard pathogen identification methods. Deploying FcMBL bead-based MALDI-TOF MS may improve the speed and accuracy of identification, and therefore treatment, of rare pathogens.

Identification of bacterial pathogens in sudden unexpected death in infancy and childhood using 16S rRNA gene sequencing.

Background: Sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) is the most common cause of post-neonatal death in the developed world. Following an extensive investigation, the cause of ~40% of deaths remains unknown. It is hypothesized that a proportion of deaths are due to an infection that remains undetected due to limitations in routine techniques.

FcMBL magnetic bead-based MALDI-TOF MS rapidly identifies paediatric blood stream infections from positive blood cultures.

Rapid identification of potentially life-threatening blood stream infections (BSI) improves clinical outcomes, yet conventional blood culture (BC) identification methods require ~24-72 hours of liquid culture, plus 24-48 hours to generate single colonies on solid media suitable for identification by mass spectrometry (MS). Newer rapid centrifugation techniques, such as the Bruker MBT-Sepsityper® IVD, replace culturing on solid media and expedite the diagnosis of BCs but frequently demonstrate reduced sensitivity for identifying clinically significant Gram-positive bacterial or fungal infections. This study introduces a protocol that utilises the broad-range binding properties of an engineered version of mannose-binding lectin linked to the Fc portion of immunoglobulin (FcMBL) to capture and enrich pathogens combined with matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionisation time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) MS for enhanced infection identification in BCs.