Performance of a multiplex polymerase chain reaction panel for identifying bacterial pathogens causing pneumonia in critically ill patients with COVID-19

Abstract The FilmArray® Pneumonia Plus (FA-PP) panel can provide rapid identifications and semi-quantitative results for many pathogens. We performed a prospective single-center study in 43 critically ill patients with COVID-19, in which we performed 96 FA-PP tests and cultures of blind bronchoalveolar lavage (BBAL). FA-PP detected one or more pathogens in 32% (31/96 of samples), whereas culture methods detected at least one pathogen in 35% (34/96 of samples). The most prevalent bacteria detected were Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n = 14) and Staphylococcus aureus (n = 11) on both FA-PP and culture. The FA-PP results from BBAL in critically ill patients with COVID-19 were consistent with bacterial culture findings for bacteria present in the FA-PP panel; showing sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value of 95%, 99%, 82% and 100%, respectively. Median turnaround time for FA-PP was 5.5 hours, which was significantly shorter than for standard culture (26 hours) and AST results (57 hours).