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Diagnostics Play a Critical Role in Mitigating Fungal Infections

Fungal Infections

bioMérieux solutions maximize efficiency in the microbiology laboratory to help providers diagnose and mitigate fungal infections accurately and quickly for better patient outcomes.

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What are Fungal Infections and How Does Resistance Impact Treatment?

Fungal infections are becoming increasingly common and fungi’s growing resistance to antifungal treatments poses a serious threat to public health. With only four classes of antifungal medicines currently available and just a few new candidates in the clinical pipeline, it is imperative that healthcare facilities prescribe antifungal drugs appropriately, test for resistant fungi in patients who are not improving and are aware of resistance in their facilities and communities.1

One factor that is threatening to make several infection-causing fungi more widespread is climate change. Climate change can increase the geographic range of pathogenic species or their vectors, leading to the emergence of diseases in areas where they have not previously been reported.2

The invasive forms of fungal infections often affect severely ill patients and those with significant underlying immune system related conditions. Populations at greatest risk of invasive fungal infections include those with cancer, HIV/AIDS, organ transplants, chronic respiratory disease, and post-primary tuberculosis infection.3 While the most common pathogenic yeast species is Candida albicans, it is important to consider other species including Candida auris – which the World Health Organization (WHO) has identified as a fungal pathogen of critical priority. 

The rise of Candida auris is alarming as it is a yeast that is often-multidrug resistant and can cause invasive infections and outbreaks in healthcare facilities that are difficult to mitigate.4

Our Solution for Diagnosing Fungal Infections

Early diagnosis of fungal infections and the implementation of appropriate treatment contribute greatly to improved outcomes for patients. Every minute counts to identify patients at high risk of a life-threatening condition. It is important to rapidly identify Candida infections in positive blood culture, alongside other potential pathogens using a syndromic approach. Septic patients with polymicrobial and fungal infections are extremely critical and often have the highest mortality rate compared to other types of bloodstream infections. It is also important to consider that joints can be impacted by fungal infections commonly in prosthetics but sometimes in native joints.5

Solutions Overview

  • Fungi Identification: Our CHROMID® offer for fungi detection is unique with direct identification of the most prevalent Candida Albicans pathogen within 24-hours. It means faster time to results for patients in critical care.
  • Bloodstream Infections: The BIOFIRE® BCID2 Panel will identify seven fungal infection pathogens, alongside 26 other organisms commonly found in bloodstream infections. The BIOFIRE® BCID2 Panel has minimal hands-on time, with results in about an hour, helping microbiologists and clinicians quickly identify the causative pathogen in a patient suspected of a fungal infection in positive blood culture.
  • Joint Infections: Conventional testing for joint infections is complex, often requiring multiple patient samples, various send-out tests, and days of waiting for results. The BIOFIRE® Joint Infection Panel is a rapid syndromic test that delivers comprehensive results in about ~1 hour.  With 2 fungal, 29 Bacterial, and 8 AMR targets, the BIOFIRE® JI Panel can facilitate improved management of fungal and polymicrobial detections.

Fungal Infections – Our Diagnostic Offer

We offer flexible options for identification of fungal infection pathogens. Additionally, integration of bioMérieux solutions can help to maximize efficiency in the microbiology laboratory with innovative automation and efficient use of IT solutions that will ensure the right information is in the right hands as quickly as possible.

Disclaimer: Product availability varies by country.  Please consult your local bioMérieux representative for product availability in your country.

  • BIOFIRE® Blood Culture Identification 2 Panel

    1 Test. 43 Targets. ~1 Hour.

    The BIOFIRE BCID2 Panel tests for 43 targets associated with bloodstream infections, including Gram-negative bacteria, Gram-positive bacteria, yeast, and 10 antimicrobial resistance genes – all with one test and with results available in about an hour from positive blood culture.

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  • BIOFIRE® Joint Infection Panel

    1 Test. 39 Targets. ~1 Hour.

    Using PCR technology, the BIOFIRE JI Panel is a rapid syndromic test that delivers comprehensive results in one easy-to-read report.

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  • Environmental Control Solution

    Environmental Monitoring with Confidence

    Controlling the healthcare environment with accurate, reliable active air sampling and evaluating its effectiveness are essential to protect your patients.

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  • API® ID Strip Range and APIWEB™

    Strips for Bacterial and Fungal Identification

    The choice of microbiologists worldwide for its ease-of-use and high-performance, the API® ID strip range is the global reference for identification. API® Strips are supported by APIWEB™ for anytime, anywhere identification. 

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  • ARGENE® Ancillary

    R-GENE® PCR Kits

    Real-time PCR assays for use on open platforms. 

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  • ARGENE® Transplant

    For Viral Infection Management in Transplant Patients

    Our real-time PCR assays permit rapid and speci­fic detection of various viral infections prior to viral diseases. This is of vital importance in the management of the transplant patients, to prevent rejection and to allow patient survival.

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  • ARGENE® Respiratory

    R-GENE® Respiratory PCR kits

    ARGENE® Respiratory includes ready-to-use real-time PCR detection kits for viral respiratory diseases.

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  • BACT/ALERT® 3D

    Accurate Blood Culture Results

    BACT/ALERT® 3D brings flexible and modular automated detection systems for any size laboratory that needs to meet blood culture guidelines efficiently, economically, and effectively.

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  • BACT/ALERT® Culture Media Bottles

    Innovative & Optimized Culture Media

    BACT/ALERT® culture media offers a comprehensive range of media bottles to ensure the recovery of a wide variety of microorganisms including bacteria, mycobacteria, and fungi – including our next generation Fastidious Antimicrobial Neutralization Plus media (FAN® PLUS) offering optimized time to detection and recovery. 

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  • BACT/ALERT® VIRTUO®

    Automated System for Faster Blood Culture

    The first fully automated blood culture system, helping to refine and redesign laboratory workflow to maximize efficiency, while providing the fastest clinically impactful results on the market.1,2

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  • BIOFIRE® FILMARRAY® TORCH

    Easier testing. Faster results.

    Syndromic infectious disease testing with BIOFIRE® FILMARRAY® TORCH is the fastest way to better results.

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  • BIOFIRE® FIREWORKS™

    Optimize Diagnostics With Data-driven Solutions.

    Providing access to a centralized data management web portal to give users total insights and analytics into BIOFIRE® System performance, utilization, pathogen surveillance, workflow management, and more. 

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  • BIOFIRE® Respiratory 2.1 and 2.1plus Panels

    1 Test. Up to 23 Targets. ~45 Minutes.

    The BIOFIRE RP2.1 and RP2.1plus Panels use the syndromic approach to accurately detect and identify the pathogens most associated with respiratory infections. Fast and comprehensive results may enable better-informed diagnosis and treatment of patients.

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  • BIOFIRE® SPOTFIRE® Respiratory /Sore Throat Panels

    Comprehensive Onsite PCR Results in ~15 Minutes.

    The BIOFIRE Respiratory/Sore Throat (R/ST) Panels enable testing for both respiratory or sore throat pathogens on the same panel, providing a flexible respiratory solution to meet the unique needs of point-of-care settings.

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  • BIOFIRE® SPOTFIRE® System

    This Changes Everything.

    The BIOFIRE® SPOTFIRE® System is the latest advancement in molecular infectious disease diagnostics from bioMérieux for Point-of-Care testing, offering rapid and actionable results onsite.

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Useful Resources for Fungal Infection Diagnostics

Samples. Pathogens. Decisions. Culture of Confidence

Leading the Charge on Multi-Drug Resistant Organisms in Culture Identification

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Contact Us for Information on Our Solutions for Fungal Infections

      

    References

    1. Antimicrobial-Resistant Fungi | Fungal Diseases | CDC. (2022, September 30). Www.cdc.gov. https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/antifungal-resistance.html#tackling

    2. Nnadi, N. E., & Carter, D. A. (2021). Climate change and the emergence of fungal pathogens. PLOS Pathogens, 17(4), e1009503. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1009503

    3. WHO releases first-ever list of health-threatening fungi. (2022, October 25). Www.who.int. https://www.who.int/news/item/25-10-2022-who-releases-first-ever-list-of-health-threatening-fungi

    4. Ahmad, S., & Alfouzan, W. (2021). Candida auris: Epidemiology, Diagnosis, Pathogenesis, Antifungal Susceptibility, and Infection Control Measures to Combat the Spread of Infections in Healthcare Facilities. Microorganisms, 9(4), 807. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9040807

    5. Mishra, A., & Juneja, D. (2023). Fungal arthritis: A challenging clinical entity. World Journal of Orthopedics, 14(2), 55–63. https://doi.org/10.5312/wjo.v14.i2.55