Antibiotic resistance is reaching a crisis point. A recent article from the Imperial College of London takes a look at what the world will be like without effective antibiotics. It’s a scary scenario.
To help in the fight against antibiotic resistance, Hayes Solutions Alliance (HSA) announces the availability of the PathoGenius proprietary molecular diagnostic test. This unique test uses microbial DNA sequencing to provide a highly accurate diagnostic tool to help physicians “get it right the first time” when diagnosing a patient infection.
“This technology is the future of diagnostic testing. Physicians can now quickly and much more accurately determine the type of pathogen affecting the patient,” said John Hayes, president of HSA. “Finding out specifically what type of bug is causing the problem and then being able to treat only that specific pathogen helps get patients better, faster, and reduces the need for multiple antibiotic use which, as we are learning, is causing great concern in the medical community.”
Technological Shift
In contrast to the 99% accuracy of the PathoGenius test, 150-year old culturing techniques, the standard today, are quite limited and can only grow and, therefore detect, less than 5% of microbes known. In many cases, physicians have stopped ordering traditional cultures, as a result. Seeking to offer a sick patient some comfort, physicians tend to prescribe an antibiotic based on past experience. In the case of a chronic infection, many patients are subjected to a game of antibiotic Russian Roulette as physicians seek a cure of an ongoing infection—a contributing factor to the overuse of antibiotics and to antibiotic resistance.
Biofilms
“The traditional culture is suited to treat acute infections caused by single cell or planktonic bacteria. Cultures are not designed to identify the collaborative communities of bacteria (Biofilm) that cause chronic infections. We now know there are over 25,000 species of microbes and 99% of them cannot be identified in traditional cultures. Anaerobes and fungal species are especially difficult.” Dr. Randall Wolcott, Founder, PathoGenius
The highly accurate microbial DNA sequencing test from PathoGenius™ is comparably priced to culturing. “There isn’t any reason why a physician wouldn’t at least try our test,” said Hayes. “If they have a patient suffering with a chronic infection, there’s nothing to lose and everything to gain.”
Currently, PathoGenius is testing thousands of samples each month from physicians around the country. Just about any type of infection can be DNA sequenced. Physicians are encouraged to contact HSA with any questions or to get started.
