Utilization of an immunochromatographic lateral flow assay for rapid detection of carbapenemase production in gram negative bacilli.

Background: Rapid detection of carbapenemase production in gram negative bacilli has important treatment considerations.
Objective: We evaluated a lateral flow assay (LFA) for carbapenemase production compared with molecular detection of 5 (blaKPC, blaNDM, blaVIM, blaIMP, and blaOXA-48) carbapenemase genes.
Methods: A total of 218 carbapenem nonsusceptible strains, including species of Enterobacterales, Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from clinical cultures were tested using the Cepheid Xpert Carba-R assay and the NG Biotech Carba-5 lateral flow immunoassay.
Results: Overall agreement with LFA was 98.2% with accuracy for each target >99% compared with polymerase chain reaction. Results were available within 15 minutes compared with 1 hour for molecular detection.
Conclusion: The use of accurate, rapid diagnostics compliments antimicrobial stewardship programs.
(© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of American Society for Clinical Pathology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)