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Science – Health
And thanks to a new tool to get these results in minutes, not a few days.
This tool was invented by a team from Pennsylvania State University. It is described Monday in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Co-developed by Pak Kin Wong, professor of biomedical and mechanical engineering, this tool uses a micro-technology to trap bacterial cells, which can then be observed through an electron microscope.
This technique makes it possible to determine in 30 minutes only if a bacterium is present in the sample studied, as well as its sensitivity to medical treatments, by exposing the strain to certain drugs to observe its resistance. If it is resistant, then the antibiotics will not anyway effect.
Today, all this takes three to five days in the laboratories.
"We are currently prescribing antibiotics even without present bacteria," Pak Pak Wong told AFP. "It's overprescription."
"Urinary tract infections are the most common bacterial infections," he took as an example. "Still, more than 75% of the urine samples sent to a clinical microbiology laboratory are negative, and reversing or rapidly confirming the presence of bacteria at clinically relevant concentrations will dramatically improve patient care."
In addition to being able to detect if a bacterium is present, the tool can begin to determine its type, observing the shape of the cells.
But it does not know what kind of bacteria it is, "said the researcher. "We are working on a complementary molecular approach to clbadify" bacteria.
He added that his team had filed a file for a provisional patent and that their tool, which they hope to reduce in size for use by hospitals or medical offices, could be available on the market in three years.
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