Clinical diagnostic value of targeted next‑generation sequencing for infectious diseases (Review)

As sequencing technology transitions from research to clinical settings, due to technological maturity and cost reductions, metagenomic next‑generation sequencing (mNGS) is increasingly used. This shift underscores the growing need for more cost‑effective and universally accessible sequencing assays to improve patient care and public health. Therefore, targeted NGS (tNGS) is gaining prominence. tNGS involves enrichment of target pathogens in patient samples based on multiplex PCR amplification or probe capture with excellent sensitivity. It is increasingly used in clinical diagnostics due to its practicality and efficiency. The present review compares the principles of different enrichment methods. The high positivity rate of tNGS in the detection of pathogens was found in respiratory samples with specific instances. tNGS maintains high sensitivity (70.8‑95.0%) in samples with low pathogen loads, including blood and cerebrospinal fluid. Furthermore, tNGS is effective in detecting drug‑resistant strains of