Karius Test
Karius® Test
Discover Clarity in Full Bloom
Pathogens can be hard to uncover–find them fast with the Karius Test.
The Karius Test is a blood test based on next-generation sequencing of microbial cell-free DNA. It can identify and quantify over 1,000 clinically relevant pathogens including bacteria, DNA viruses, fungi, and parasites.
Applications include complicated pneumonia, immunocompromised patients, and endocarditis.
Detecting pathogens with the Karius Test improves infectious disease diagnosis
Higher diagnostic yield1
The Karius Test demonstrates superior yield when compared to blood culture and other microbiological testing.
Faster time to diagnosis1
The Karius Test can identify etiologies of infections more rapidly than the standard-of-care diagnostic workup.
Non-invasive2,3
The Karius Test helps diagnose deep-seated infections such as invasive fungal infections from a single blood draw.
Clinical Applications
Pneumonia
Complicated
Atypical
Immunocompromised patients
Invasive fungal infections
Viral infections
Neutropenic fever
Endocarditis
and
other cardiovascular infections
Karius Test Performance
The clinical and analytical validation of the Karius Test was published in Nature Microbiology. It is a landmark validation study for a metagenomic infectious disease diagnostic test.
Analytical Specificity
>99.99%
per pathogen
Analytical Sensitivity
>95%
at 50 fragments of cell-free DNA per μL plasma
The Karius Test detects microbial cell-free DNA in the blood–detecting both bloodstream and deep-seated infections
During an acute infection, pathogens leave microbial cell-free DNA (mcfDNA) in the blood. Even when an infection is localized, mcfDNA from the infection can be detected. Detection of mcfDNA in the blood is a breakthrough in the diagnosis of infectious diseases, and mcfDNA offers several advantages over conventional testing:
Detection of infections throughout the body
mcfDNA can be found in the bloodstream even in deep-seated infections.
Breadth and depth of organisms
mcfDNA from multiple organisms can be found in the blood. The Karius Test detects over 1,000 pathogens – DNA viruses, bacteria, fungi, and eukaryotes.
Quantitative results
mcfDNA concentration corresponds with pathogen abundance over time.
High-quality process ensures both speed and accuracy with results delivered typically the next day
The Karius Test is a send-out test ordered by the clinician. The patient’s specimen is collected at the hospital and shipped to Karius.
Specimen Collection
and Shipping Instructions
Once the specimen arrives at Karius, specimen processing to reporting takes 1 day*.
Step 1
Specimen Collection
5 mL standard blood draw in Plasma Preparation Tube
Step 2
Specimen Processing
DNA extraction and library preparation
Step 3
Sequencing
Microbial cell-free DNA sequencing
Step 4
Analysis
Curated clinical-grade pathogen database
*More than 85% of specimens received by 8:30 am (PT) Monday through Saturday are reported the next day.
References:
1. Blauwkamp T, et al. Nat Microbiol. 2019;4(4):663-674.
2. Armstrong AE, et al. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2019;66(7).
3. Hong DK, et al. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 2018;92(3):210-213.