Evaluation of Unbiased Next-Generation Sequencing of RNA (RNA-seq) as a Diagnostic Method in Influenza Virus-Positive Respiratory Samples.

ABSTRACT: Unbiased nontargeted metagenomic RNA sequencing (UMERS) has the advantage to detect known as well as unknown pathogens and, thus, can significantly improve the detection of viral, bacterial, parasitic, and fungal sequences in public health settings. In particular, conventional diagnostic methods successfully identify the putative pathogenic agent in only 30% to 40% of respiratory specimens from patients with acute respiratory illness. Here, we applied UMERS to 24 diagnostic respiratory specimens (bronchoalveolar lavage [BAL] fluid, sputum samples, and a swab) from patients with seasonal influenza infection and 5 BAL fluid samples from patients with pneumonia that tested negative for influenza to validate RNA sequencing as an unbiased diagnostic tool in comparison to conventional diagnostic

SUBMITTER: Fischer N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4473199 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature