Traditional diagnostic methods may fail to detect bacterial infections when patients have undergone antimicrobial treatment or when bacteria are present in low quantities. To address this, we apply Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) to identify pathogens in the samples of patients presenting with severe symptoms but have no clear diagnosis.
 
Using metagenomic 16S amplicon sequencing, we analyze microbial composition in clinical samples, enabling the detection of potential infectious agents when standard culture and molecular methods fail. This approach improves diagnostic accuracy and supports timely, targeted antibiotic therapy, as demonstrated in cases where infections of unknown origin were successfully identified using NGS.

Università degli Studi di Perugia:
Dipartimento di Medicina e Chirurgia - Antonella Mencacci

Azienda Ospedaliera di Perugia:
Microbiologia