Rapid Detection of VREfm Clusters: FTIR Spectroscopy as a Practical Alternative to Whole-Genome Sequencing.

ABSTRACT: Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREfm) has become a significant nosocomial pathogen due to its potential to cause outbreaks. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) is considered the reference method for determining genomic relatedness among outbreak strains, but its routine use in clinical microbiology laboratories remains challenging. Consequently, faster and simpler typing methods are needed. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) captures the unique infrared fingerprint of each isolate, enabling the comparison of spectral profiles to infer genomic relatedness. In this study, we evaluated the performance of FTIR for identifying genomic clusters of VREfm in a tertiary hospital, in comparison with three WGS-based methods: core-genome multilocus sequence typing (cgMLST), co

SUBMITTER: Wang-Wang JH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12687595 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature