Clinical metagenomics-based diagnostics for infectious diseases

Know about the book -

Clinical metagenomics-based diagnostics for infectious diseases is written by Sathyavathi Sundararaju and published by Frontiers Media SA. It's available with International Standard Book Number or ISBN identification 2832553354 (ISBN 10) and 9782832553350 (ISBN 13).

Clinical metagenomics is an emerging method in the diagnosis of infectious diseases that uses next generation sequencing (NGS) technology to identify the etiologic agents to allow for more effective and targeted treatment of infectious diseases. Conventional diagnostic methods are mainly based on basic morphologic, phenotypic and genotypic analyses which can be insensitive and/or time consuming. Metagenomic NGS (mNGS) can be performed with only a small amount of nucleic acid from the specimen and not only can the pathogen be identified and characterized, but also its antimicrobial susceptibility can be inferred. Although tremendous advancements were made in the speed, throughput, and cost of NGS in recent years, the application of clinical metagenomics in routine diagnosis of infectious diseases is not yet practical because of its much higher cost compared to conventional microbiological tests, complex laboratory workflows and computational challenges.