Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has led to the widespread use of the nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT), along with an increase in demand for SARS-CoV-2 tests. NAAT has been used to detect drug resistance (AMR) genes since before the pandemic, but the test has been performed in a limited number of facilities. We investigated the current status and background of Japanese clinical laboratories by surveying the implementation of genotypic AST in NAAT, which has become widespread owing to the pandemic. This means that 59% of the respondents possessed NAAT and were using it for genotypic AST. GeneXpert and FilmArray were introduced in the majority of cases (62.5% and 82.6%, respectively), with the pandemic as the trigger. More than half of the respondents cited “rapid detection” (56.0%) and “ICT requests” (52.4%) as the reasons for introducing the system. Regarding usefulness, “contribution to infectious disease treatment” (74.1%) showed the highest percentage. Among the respondents who cited “not implemented”, the most frequent responses were “I have no plans, but I want to do it.” (38.1%) and “would do so if requested by a physician” (33.3%). The most common reason for not implementing the system was concern about increased workload (52.9%). We believe that this is due to changes in the working environment caused by the pandemic and the characteristics of Japanese society. In the future, to promote the adoption of genotypic AST, it will be necessary to approach it through reports on its usefulness from domestic facilities, and simultaneously, improving and enhancing efficiency in work processes will also be essential.
