While the costs and ease of sequencing have been falling, one common obstacle to adoption is the requirement for local genomics staff and infrastructure. High costs of IT staff, bioinformaticians, and genomic epidemiologists (plus sufficient staff to provide continuity of service) and the initial and ongoing costs of computational infrastructure often provide a barrier to entry. Initial capital and equipment costs that are commonly encountered, particularly in resource-limite

Download high-resolution pdf below: A Novel Multi-Scale Outbreak Detection and Strain Identification Capability for Genome Sequence-Based Infection Control: An MRSA Example. J. C. Littlefair, B. Uttley, D. Frampton, J. F. Peden, N. J. Saunders The exclusion (as well as inclusion) of strains is vital for outbreak investigation and infection prevention and control of healthcare-associated infection, for both health resource management and patient-care. Current genome-sequence b

It is repeatedly stated that we face a global challenge of antimicrobial resistance and catastrophic health and economic impacts, and that this is the product of misuse, abuse, and essentially over-use of antibiotics. It is hard to argue, and I would not wish to, that this is at least partly the case, but it is both dangerous and misleading to present this as the whole of the explanation. What we are seeing is an inevitable consequence of many pressures and their inevitable e