Open AccessSpecies-Specific Immunoassay Aids Identification of Pathogen and Tracks Infectivity in Foot Infection
Author(s) -
Stephanie P. Hao,
Elysia A Masters,
Mark Ninomiya,
Christopher A. Beck,
Edward M. Schwarz,
John L. Daiss,
Irvin Oh
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
foot and ankle international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1944-7876
pISSN - 1071-1007
DOI - 10.1177/1071100720965136
Subject(s) - medicine , staphylococcus aureus , pathogen , antibody , titer , immunoassay , immunology , infectivity , antibody titer , concordance , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , virus , bacteria , genetics
Conventional bacterial cultures frequently fail to identify the dominant pathogen in polymicrobial foot infections, in which Staphylococcus aureus is the most common infecting pathogen. Previous work has shown that species-specific immunoassays may be able to identify the main pathogen in musculoskeletal infections. We sought to investigate the clinical applicability of a S. aureus immunoassay to accurately identify the infecting pathogen and monitor its infectivity longitudinally in foot infection. We hypothesized that this species-specific immunoassay could aid in the diagnosis of S. aureus and track the therapeutic response in foot infections.