A pilot study of rapid benchtop sequencing of <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> and <i>Clostridium difficile</i> for outbreak detection and surveillance

This benchtop sequencing technology is widely generalisable to human bacterial pathogens. The findings provide several good examples of how rapid and precise sequencing could transform identification of transmission of healthcare-associated infection and therefore improve hospital infection control and patient outcomes in routine clinical practice.