Advancements in UTI Testing: A Multi-omics Approach

While clinical microbiology laboratories are pivotal in the identification and handling of infectious diseases, the microbiology lab environment is rapidly changing. Conventional testing methods are being challenged as innovative testing methodologies emerge. Molecular testing is an ever-evolving world for the most common disease areas, including respiratory, urinary tract, and vaginal pathogen detection. In the case of testing for urinary tract infections (UTIs)—the second most common type of infection, with nearly half of positive UTI cases polymicrobial—current culture-based methods for detecting UTI pathogens have significant limitations. These include inability to address polymicrobial infections, long time to result, and false negatives due to poor sensitivity. Doubtful cases of UTI are of particular concern.

A molecular alternative that uses real-time PCR technology, however, has the potential to increase the specificity and sensitivity of pathogen detection. Additionally, advancements in UTI testing now include unique multi-omics approaches to detect bacterial interactions and address antibiotic resistance in polymicrobial samples.
Furthermore, while standard culture tests susceptibility on individual isolates, pooled antibiotic susceptibility testing (P-AST)—a unique method in which organisms are grouped together—takes into consideration bacterial interactions and may provide more effective therapy options.

During this webinar, Advancements in UTI Testing: A Multi-omics Approach to Maximizing the Flexibility of Your Molecular Testing Laboratory—sponsored by Thermo Fisher Scientific, in partnership with Pathnostics—will compare the clinical utility of genotypic and phenotypic methods in treatment of UTIs and describe how a multi-omics approach could be implemented in a laboratory.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the impact of urinary tract infections (UTIs) in patient care.

2. Evaluate the technical challenges and limitations associated with urine culture.

3. Describe how a multi-omics approach could be implemented in a laboratory.