Objective:

To address the challenges of bacterial infection prevention and control in hospitals through innovative real-time surveillance methods.

Key Findings:

• One in ten hospitalized patients globally acquires an infection, with higher rates in low-income countries.
• FTIR can deliver results within hours, significantly faster than traditional methods.
• FTIR-based clustering shows performance comparable to next-generation sequencing for common hospital pathogens.

Interpretation:

Rapid and decentralized pathogen typing using FTIR can enhance outbreak response times and improve infection control measures in hospitals.

Limitations:

• Dependence on existing surveillance systems may hinder widespread adoption of FTIR.
• Further validation of FTIR in diverse hospital settings is needed.

Conclusion:

Implementing FTIR-based workflows can modernize hospital surveillance, reduce transmission events, and support timely decision-making in infection prevention.