Abstract

Dr. Rime Messaoudi*, Bougoun Hamza, Jawhari Samira, Moufarraj Inass, Benouda Amina

ABSTRACT

Background: Syndromic multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays provide rapid etiological orientation in infectious syndromes with non-specific clinical presentations. This study assessed the contribution of the BioFire FilmArray system to the diagnosis of respiratory tract infections and suspected meningitis/encephalitis in a Moroccan tertiary care center. Methods: This retrospective descriptive study included 299 FilmArray panels performed at the microbiology laboratory of the International University Hospital Cheikh Zaid, Rabat, between March 2020 and April 2022. Respiratory, pneumonia and meningitis/encephalitis panels were reviewed together with available conventional microbiological, biological and radiological data. Results: Among 218 respiratory panels, 62 were positive. Human rhinovirus/enterovirus was the leading respiratory pathogen, followed by SARS-CoV-2, respiratory syncytial virus and parainfluenza virus. Among 45 pneumonia panels, 17 were positive and most positive specimens were polymicrobial. Bacterial targets predominated over viral detections, mainly Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae. Culture was performed in 14 positive FA-PN cases and recovered a bacterial pathogen in six. Resistance determinants were identified in several positive pneumonia panels, mainly CTX-M. Among 36 meningitis/encephalitis panels, nine were positive, with HSV-1, Listeria monocytogenes and Streptococcus pneumoniae as the main detections. Conclusion: FilmArray syndromic testing provided rapid broad-range pathogen detection and clinically useful resistance information. Its results, however, require careful clinicobiological interpretation and correlation with conventional microbiology.