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A plasma metagenomics next generation sequencing (mNGS; brand name Karius®) test became available commercially in 2016. Many practicing physicians can order it as a send-out test. To examine the effect on clinical management when the test is added to conventional and molecular tests investigating infectious diseases, investigators reviewed the clinical utility of 82 mNGS tests ordered at five hospitals in the U.S. over a 1.75-year period. Predefined criteria categorized the effect of the test as positive if it allowed physicians to tailor therapy or avoid invasive diagnostic procedures, negative if it led to unnecessary therapeutic or diagnostic interventions or longer hospital stay, none if it led to information that was not acted upon, or…