Wound Care Panel

Wounds that won't heal, or that show signs of infection — redness, swelling, warmth, increasing pain, drainage, odor, or stalled healing — can be driven by a wide range of organisms, and the cause is rarely obvious from looking at the wound alone. Chronic and complicated wounds are also frequently polymicrobial, meaning more than one organism is present at the same time, often within biofilms that standard culture under-reports or misses entirely. On top of that, wound infections aren't only bacterial: yeast, molds, dermatophytes, and even viruses can cause or complicate them — and a routine bacterial culture won't detect any of those. The result is that wound infections are often treated empirically with broad-spectrum antibiotics that may not match the actual cause, while fungal or resistant organisms go unaddressed.

This panel uses PCR to test a single wound swab for 27 targets across every major class — bacteria, viruses, yeast, molds, and dermatophytes — plus the mecA/C marker for MRSA, identifying what's actually present rather than treating by assumption.

Who this test is for

• Chronic or non-healing wounds — including diabetic foot ulcers, pressure sores (bed sores), and venous leg ulcers
• Surgical site infections or post-operative wounds that aren't healing as expected
• Wounds showing signs of infection — redness, warmth, swelling, pus or drainage, foul odor, or worsening pain
• Burns and traumatic wounds at risk of infection
• Wounds that haven't responded to initial antibiotic treatment, suggesting the original therapy missed the cause
• Higher-risk patients — those with diabetes or weakened immune systems, who face greater infection risk and are more prone to fungal and resistant organisms
• Skin lesions of unclear origin, where it isn't obvious whether the cause is bacterial, viral, or fungal

What it covers

A comprehensive set of bacteria most responsible for wound and skin/soft-tissue infections — Staphylococcus aureus (the leading wound pathogen) and other staph species, Streptococcus pyogenes (group A strep) and related streptococci, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, E. coli, multiple Klebsiella species, Enterococcus, and the often drug-resistant Acinetobacter calcoaceticus-baumannii complex. It also detects herpes simplex virus 1 and 2, which can produce lesions mistaken for bacterial wounds; a range of yeast (Candida albicans, glabrata, parapsilosis, tropicalis, krusei); the aggressive mold Fusarium solani; and the dermatophytes Trichophyton and Microsporum. Finally, the mecA/C marker directly flags MRSA.

Why PCR

• It detects every class of pathogen at once. Bacteria, viruses, yeast, molds, and dermatophytes in a single swab — including the fungal and viral causes that bacterial culture entirely misses.
• It identifies polymicrobial infections. Chronic wounds frequently harbor multiple organisms and biofilms, which traditional culture often reduces to a single dominant grower or overlooks.
• It flags MRSA immediately. The mecA/C marker indicates methicillin resistance, which directly changes antibiotic selection — information that empiric treatment would otherwise have to guess at.
• It's fast. Wound cultures take days, and fungal cultures can take weeks; PCR returns results quickly enough to guide treatment in time to matter.
• It's sensitive. PCR detects organisms present in low numbers or difficult to culture, reducing false-negative "no growth" results on infected wounds.