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6″-F-fluoromaltotriose is a PET tracer that can potentially be used to image and localize most bacterial infections, much like F-FDG has been used to image and localize most cancers. However, unlike F-FDG, 6″-F-fluoromaltotriose is not taken up by inflammatory lesions and appears to be specific to bacterial infections by targeting the maltodextrin transporter that is expressed in gram-positive and gram-negative strains of bacteria. 6″-F-fluoromaltotriose was synthesized with high radiochemical purity and evaluated in several clinically relevant bacterial strains in cultures and in living mice. 6″-F-fluoromaltotriose was taken up in both gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial strains. 6″-F-fluoromaltotriose was also able to detect in a clinically relevant mouse model of wound infection. The utility of 6″-F-fluoromaltotriose to help monitor antibiotic therapies was also evaluated in rats. 6″-F-fluoromaltotriose is a promising new tracer that has significant diagnostic utility, with the potential to change the clinical management of patients with infectious diseases of bacterial origin.