Introducing Fungiplex® Aspergillus real-time PCR

Invasive aspergillosis is a serious life-threatening condition in immunocompromised patients that requires urgent treatment. Patients are often prescribed antifungal drugs before a diagnosis is confirmed which leads to unnecessary costs and side-effects. Invasive aspergillosis is challenging to diagnose with non-specific symptoms and poor blood culture sensitivity. 

Fungiplex Aspergillus PCR is a diagnostic test that does not require growth of the pathogenic organism, offering highly sensitive and specific detection of DNA within hours. It can be used to ‘rule out‘  aspergillosis during a screening strategy in high risk immunocompromised patients, or ‘rule in‘ a diagnosis in patients with suspected disease.  The inclusion of an Aspergillus PCR, in combination with biomarker testing, as part of a screening strategy allows earlier detection of Aspergillus in patient blood or bronchoalveolar lavage samples guiding patient management decisions. This strategy has been shown to reduce the use of empiric antifungal drugs, with the associated reduction in costs and side-effects.

Commercially available CE marked Aspergillus PCRs, such as Bruker’s Fungiplex Aspergillus, provide a standardised, validated, quality controlled product to meet customer needs. Fungiplex Aspergillus is a CE-IVD real-time PCR which detects the most common pathogens associated with invasive aspergillosis. It provides rapid results with high sensitivity and specificity without culture. Validated from blood and bronchoalveolar lavage samples, Fungiplex Aspergillus provides results in less than 2 hours from extracted DNA. It is provided in a user-friendly format that is compatible with existing laboratory equipment. 

Early diagnosis is crucial in a life-threatening condition such as invasive aspergillosis.  Learn more about how Aspergillus PCR, a rapid, highly sensitive diagnostic test, when used in combination with other biomarker tests, can lead to early diagnosis for improved patient outcomes and reduced use of unnecessary antifungal therapy.