Next-generation sequencing is out!The Evolution of Infection Diagnosis in Movies and TV Dramas

In the hit drama 'Thank You Doctor', there is such a plot: a woman who fainted at home with high fever was sent to the Emergency Intensive Care Unit (EICU), and the situation was extremely urgent.However, the attending doctor tried many methods and still failed to find out the cause, so he sent the patient's blood sample for next-generation sequencing, and the results reported Escherichia coli and human herpes virus.After the cause was clarified, the doctor gave symptomatic treatment, and the patient's vital signs recovered.

Picture TV series 'Surgical Storm' stills

visible,How to accurately identify and grasp the cause of disease is the key to clinical symptomatic treatment。

In the 'Surgery Storm' broadcast in 2017, there were also plots related to pathogens, but when the pathogen could not be identified, doctors could only carry out empirical treatment.

Picture TV series 'Surgical Storm' stills

visible,How to accurately identify and grasp the cause of disease is the key to clinical symptomatic treatment。

Infectious diseases are major diseases that seriously threaten human health in the world today.For most clinically infected patients,time is life.For a long time, the detection and diagnosis of infectious diseases have always relied on morphology, immunology, molecular biology andTraditional detection methods such as isolation and culture of pathogens.These traditional detection methods have their own advantagesDisadvantages, but most of them have many links, complicated operation and time-consuming.

In recent years, the emerging mNGS technology has gradually entered the clinic from the laboratory and into the public's field of vision, providing an effective technical means for the diagnosis of difficult and critical diseases and rare pathogen infections.In the fight against the new crown epidemic, mNGS has made great contributions to the early detection, typing, and traceability of the virus.

Figure mNGS detection process

Compared with traditional pathogen detection technology, this technology can detect various microorganisms (such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites, etc.) without bias in a short period of time, including difficult-to-cultivate pathogens and new pathogens, with high sensitivity and specificity.

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From 'Surgery Storm' to 'Thank You Doctor', film and television series also reflect the evolution of accurate diagnosis of infection in clinical diagnosis and treatment.In the past, people's inspection of pathogens was relatively simple, time-consuming, and treatment may be delayed. However, the second-generation sequencing 'out of the circle' in 'Thank You Doctor' is a new technology for assisting precise treatment.

Today, next-generation sequencing technology is widely used inNon-invasive prenatal diagnosis, tumor clinical diagnosis, genetic disease detection and pathogen detection.It is hoped that the continuous development of this technology can bring new breakthroughs for clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Reference sources: 'Thank you doctor', 'Surgery', China Organ Review, Yin Ge chatting about genes,IVD Practitioner等