Diagnostic Digest

The VITEK^® 2 story is a journey from the early questions of space-era microbiology to the everyday urgency of patient care. The technology inspired by the need to understand microbial growth beyond Earth now supports modern laboratories in clinical decision-making. 

Explore key insights from AMR Pathways S2E3 as Dr. Brittany Rodriguez discusses how inpatient antimicrobial stewardship is evolving through diagnostic stewardship, rapid diagnostics, data analytics, and multidisciplinary collaboration to improve patient care and optimize antibiotic use.

See how Cincinnati Children's Hospital uses VITEK® REVEAL™ to reduce time to antimicrobial susceptibility results and support patient care.

Explore the benefits of centralized and decentralized clinical microbiology workflows. Learn how blood culture, ID/AST, and automation strategies can improve turnaround times, antimicrobial stewardship, and patient care.

Monitor the 2026 rise in Cyclospora infections, explore cyclosporiasis symptoms, and learn how BIOFIRE GI Panels support rapid detection and surveillance.

When an otherwise healthy patient presents to the emergency department (ED) with mild respiratory symptoms, the risks associated with empiric therapy is generally low. Immunocompromised patients, on the other hand, don’t have the luxury of uncertainty. For these at-risk individuals, a missed diagnosis or prolonged exposure to empiric antimicrobials may worsen outcomes.

Diagnostic stewardship programs optimize laboratory testing, improve patient care, reduce unnecessary testing, and support value-based healthcare goals.

Outpatient antimicrobial stewardship is a shared responsibility across healthcare disciplines. Whether you are a clinician, microbiologist, pharmacist, nurse, infection preventionist, or public health professional, small changes can have a meaningful impact.

The Local Health Monitor helps eliminate that uncertainty by delivering a comprehensive, data-driven view of infectious disease activity at the local level. Powered by the latest CDC data, this interactive dashboard helps healthcare teams anticipate patient volumes, optimize testing readiness, and respond with confidence. 

This article summarizes the findings of our “The Value of Preventing Acute Kidney Injury” Dossier, including the current burden of AKI for hospitals, where current risk assessment practices fall short, and how VIDAS® NEPHROCHECK® [TIMP-2 · IGFBP-7] from bioMérieux is designed to fill in the gaps.

The introduction of matrix‑assisted laser desorption/ionization time‑of‑flight mass spectrometry (MALDI‑TOF MS) marked a fundamental shift in how laboratories identify microorganisms, transforming workflows that once emphasized stepwise exclusion into ones driven by rapid, data‑rich pattern recognition.

Behind every diagnosis is a lab professional who made it possible, yet their expertise and dedication rarely get the recognition they deserve. And with the ever-evolving healthcare landscape, just trying to keep up can feel like a challenge.