Background:
Identifying pathogens with culture-negative pyogenic spondylitis was difficult. Shotgun metagenomic sequencing is an unbiased and culture-free approach to the diagnosis of infectious diseases. There were, however, a variety of contamination factors that confounded the precision of metagenomic sequencing.
Methods:
This study proposed a contamination-robust protocol for clinical metagenomic sequencing. Using this protocol, we were able to identify Cutibactierum modestum in tissue specimen of infectious spondylitis.
Results:
The identification of Cutibactierum modestum and annotation of its resistome were annotated. The patient recovered fully.
Conclusions:
This application of next-generation sequencing using the contamination-robust protocol to assist the diagnosis of Cutibactierum modestum infection provides a new perspective in the clinical approach against spinal osteomyelitis and illustrates the potential of this technique in rapid etiological diagnosis.