Review of the impact of MALDI-TOF MS in public health and hospital hygiene, 2018

Abstract

IntroductionMALDI-TOF MS represents a new technological era for microbiology laboratories. Improved sample processing and expanded databases have facilitated rapid and direct identification of microorganisms from some clinical samples. Automated analysis of protein spectra from different microbial populations is emerging as a potential tool for epidemiological studies and is expected to impact public health.AimTo demonstrate how implementation of MALDI-TOF MS has changed the way microorganisms are identified, how its applications keep increasing and its impact on public health and hospital hygiene.MethodsA review of the available literature in PubMED, published between 2009 and 2018, was carried out.ResultsOf 9,709 articles retrieved, 108 were included in the review. They show that rapid identification of a growing number of microorganisms using MALDI-TOF MS has allowed for optimisation of patient management through prompt initiation of directed antimicrobial treatment. The diagnosis of Gram-negative bacteraemia directly from blood culture pellets has positively impacted antibiotic streamlining, length of hospital stay and costs per patient. The flexibility of MALDI-TOF MS has encouraged new forms of use, such as detecting antibiotic resistance mechanisms (e.g. carbapenemases), which provides valuable information in a reduced turnaround time. MALDI-TOF MS has also been successfully applied to bacterial typing.ConclusionsMALDI-TOF MS is a powerful method for protein analysis. The increase in speed of pathogen detection enables improvement of antimicrobial therapy, infection prevention and control measures leading to positive impact on public health. For antibiotic susceptibility testing and bacterial typing, it represents a rapid alternative to time-consuming conventional techniques.

Public Health Impact of Rapid Identification of Epidemiologically Important Characteristics of Salmonella Spp. By Maldi-Tof MS

“…Several studies confirm, that MALDI-TOF MS is a method appropriate for monitoring the epidemiological situation with regard to virulent and highly resistant pathogens among which Salmonella belongs (Rodríguez-Sánchez et al, 2019). Identification and diagnosis of affected patients as well as implementation of isolation measures would be greatly facilitated in the case of routine introduction of rapid protein acquisition and analysis, which has a positive impact on patient management and public health (Idelevich et al, 2018;Rodríguez-Sánchez et al, 2019). Preventing the spreading of infection and increasing the curative ratio is very important for the rapid detection, timely treatment and modern disease management of Salmonellosis (Tae-Hoon Kim et al, 2017;Schubert & Kostrzewa, 2017).…”

“…The use of this technique improves early identification of genus Salmonella on the species, subspecies and even serovar level, which has a positive impact on public health. Several studies confirm, that MALDI-TOF MS is a method appropriate for monitoring the epidemiological situation with regard to virulent and highly resistant pathogens among which Salmonella belongs (Rodríguez-Sánchez et al, 2019). Identification and diagnosis of affected patients as well as implementation of isolation measures would be greatly facilitated in the case of routine introduction of rapid protein acquisition and analysis, which has a positive impact on patient management and public health (Idelevich et al, 2018;Rodríguez-Sánchez et al, 2019).…”

“…This number also confirms their findings that from fresh clinical material, the sensitivity of the biomarker is higher. Many researchers confirm that MALDI-TOF MS makes an excellent tool for monitoring the epidemiology of highly resistant or virulent pathogens as well as for outbreak detection and for screening of isolates within an outbreak or for the detection of slow-growing bacteria Akyar et al, 2018;Cenci et al, 2018;Rodríguez-Sánchez et al, 2019). One of the major advantages of MALDI-TOF MS technology for identification of pathogens is the timeto-result, which is reduced from 24-48 h to less than an hour (Croxato et al, 2012).…”

“…New methods based on microarrays as well as on the detection of protein spectra by MALDI-TOF mass spectrophotometry (MS) are suitable for routine clinical use Kompanikova et al, 2017). Automated analysis of protein spectra from different microbial populations is an important tool for epidemiological studies and may have an impact on public health (Rodríguez-Sánchez et al, 2019). Rapid and reliable identification of pathogens, including Salmonella sp., is important for surveillance, prevention, and control of food-borne diseases (Dieckmann et al, 2008).…”

“…More recently, a study using similar peaks allowed correct identification of 94% S. enterica subsp. enterica serovars assignment using a set of 12 species-specific peaks (Ojima-Kato et al, 2017;Rodríguez-Sánchez et al, 2019).…”