The First Fully Automated Molecular Diagnostic Panel for Meningitis and Encephalitis: How Well Does It Perform, and When Should It Be Used?

Rapid and accurate molecular diagnostic tests for the most common causes of infectious meningitis and encephalitis have the potential for high clinical impact. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Leber et al. (J Clin Microbiol 54: 2251-2261, 2016, http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/JCM.00730-16) report results from a large clinical study designed to prospectively assess the performance of the FilmArray meningitis/encephalitis panel compared to conventional methods.