The use of MALDI-TOF MS in infection control

Abstract

The spectrum and burden of multi-resistant organisms (MROs) in Australian health care facilities continues to rise despite efforts to control them. A number of interventions have been scaled up in recent times in an attempt to address this, including the widespread roll out of robust antimicrobial stewardship programs, however additional interventions are still required. Another tool that is likely to aid in the reduction of the spread of MROs in the healthcare setting is more rapid diagnostic tests. The benefits of more rapid diagnosis of organisms to species level has already been seen in the majority of health care facilities with the introduction of MALDI-TOF MS. While a rapid, accurate and cost effect method of organism identification, the ability of this technology to aid in the detection of antibiotic resistance is still generally considered novel. We have reported on the use of MALDI-TOF MS to identify vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE) and the implementation of this method in the routine clinical microbiology laboratory. In this presentation this work will be reviewed in addition to recent advances in use of MALDI-TOF MS to identify other forms of antimicrobial resistance and hence contribute to infection control.