Identification of pathogens directly from respiratory specimens from patients with HAP within 40 minutes

Background: Hospital acquired pneumonia (HAP) is a leading cause of mortality, morbidity and increased hospital costs. Treatment of HAP mandates initiation of generally broad spectrum antibiotics after establishing the diagnosis with deescalation after pathogen identification. Classical microbiological culture and identification requires 24 to 48 hours. We have developed and tested a rapid method of identifying pathogens using a beacon-based fluorescent insitu hybridisation (bbFISH) method to identify the major pathogens causing HAP. Methods: The often high viscosity of sputum has hitherto prevented the direct a…