RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 Burrack-Lange, Sandra Christina A1 Personne, Yoann A1 Huber, Monika A1 Winkler, Elisabeth A1 Weile, Jan A1 Knabbe, Cornelius A1 Görig, Julia A1 Rohde, HolgerYR 2018 T1 Multicenter assessment of the rapid Unyvero Blood Culture molecular assay JF Journal of Medical Microbiology, VO 67 IS 9 SP 1294 OP 1301 DO https://doi.org/10.1099/jmm.0.000804 PB Microbiology Society, SN 1473-5644, AB Purpose. Bloodstream infections remain an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Rapid diagnosis can reduce the time from empiric antimicrobial therapy to targeted therapy and improve patient outcomes. Methodology. The fully automated Unyvero Blood Culture (BCU) Application (Curetis GmbH) can identify a broad panel of pathogens (36 analytes covering over 50 pathogens) and 16 antibiotic resistance gene markers simultaneously in about 5 h. The assay was evaluated in three clinical laboratories in comparison to routine microbiological procedures. Results. A total of 207 blood cultures were included in the study, and 90.5 % of the species identified by culture were covered by the Unyvero BCU panel with an overall sensitivity of 96.8 % and specificity of 99.8 %. The time to result was reduced on average by about 34 h. The assay accurately identified 95 % of the species, including 158/164 monomicrobial and 7/9 polymicrobial cultures. The Unyvero BCU Cartridge detected a large number of resistance markers including mecA (n=57), aac(6′)aph(2′′) (n=40), one vanB resistance gene, and six instances of bla CTX-M. Conclusion. The Unyvero BCU Application provided fast, reliable results, while significantly improving turnaround time in blood culture diagnostics., UL https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/jmm.0.000804