BMC Medical Education (Feb 2024)

A training program for improving the capacity of infection high-throughput sequencing and diagnosis in China

  • Dong Zhang,
  • Yunfeng Cheng,
  • Yuan Ji,
  • Qing Miao,
  • Bojiang Chen,
  • Jing Wang,
  • Guoqiu Wu,
  • Chenyan Yuan,
  • Guangjuan Zheng,
  • Han Liu,
  • Xinmin Qiu,
  • Jie Gong,
  • Hongping Ba,
  • Liping Pan,
  • Xiaoling Ma,
  • Yingjie Qi,
  • Yuru Shi,
  • Qi Zhang,
  • Dan Li,
  • Yingchun Xu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05100-2
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 24, no. 1
pp. 1 – 10

Abstract

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Abstract Background Infectious diseases are a serious threat to human especially since the COVID-19 outbreak has proved the importance and urgency of their diagnosis and treatment again. Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) has been widely used and recognized in clinical and carried out localized testing in hospitals. Increasing the training of mNGS detection technicians can enhance their professional quality and more effectively realize the application value of the hospital platform. Methods Based on the initial theoretical understanding and practice of the mNGS platform for localization construction, we have designed a training program to enhance the ability of technicians to detect pathogens by utilizing mNGS, and hence to conduct training practices nationwide. Results Until August 30, 2022, the page views of online classes have reached 51,500 times and 6 of offline small-scale training courses have been conducted. A total of 67 trainees from 67 hospitals have participated in the training with a qualified rate of 100%. After the training course, the localization platform of 1 participating hospital has been put into use, 2 have added the mNGS localization platform for admission, among which 3 have expressed strong intention of localization. Conclusions This study focuses on the training procedures and practical experience of the project which is the first systematic standardized program of mNGS in the world. It solves the training difficulties in the current industry, and effectively promotes the localization construction and application of mNGS in hospitals. It has great development potential in the future and is worth further promotion.

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