Accurate identification of urinary isolates: Integration of conventional, automated, and molecular methods

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Prompt and accurate detection of bacterial pathogens is essential for improving the management of infectious diseases. AIMS: Our study aims at accurate identification of uropathogens through the integration of various methods, thereby highlighting each method of identification. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present prospective study was conducted in the department of microbiology of a teaching tertiary care hospital of the central India for 1 year 2014–2015. A total of 1202 urine samples were processed. Identification of different urinary isolates was done by conventional, automated, and molecular methods in few special cases. The study did not involve any statistical analysis. RESULTS: A total of 509 samples were found to be culture positive out of the 1202 samples studied. Five hundred and fifty-four uropathogens were isolated from 509 culture positive samples. Among these, the bacterial isolates that could not be identified conventionally were processed through automated and/or 16S ribosomal ribose nucleic acid) (16S rRNA) sequencing. CONCLUSIONS: The use of 16S rRNA gene sequences to study bacterial phylogeny and taxonomy has been the most common housekeeping genetic marker that provides reliability, reproducibility, and higher accuracy during identification of bacterial isolates. Our study has highlighted the importance of each method during the process of identification, thereby developing a high degree of confidence in diagnostic procedures.