Hospital germs are a danger, especially for patients whose immune systems are already weakened. Hundreds of thousands of people become infected in German hospitals each year. One of the most common consequences is pneumonia, especially in intensive care units. Hospital-acquired infections can also lead to blood poisoning, bladder infections, and wound infections. They also increase the risk of death. The health sector is looking for ways to prevent these dangers. Düsseldorf-based company Miacom Diagnostics, for example, is developing diagnostics solutions to rapidly identify hospital germs. It has developed a test for diagnosing pneumonia pathogens that gives the doctor an accurate result in a relatively short space of time.
Identifying and fighting hospital germs
The test is based on technology that directly screens patient samples for up to 14 pathogens in one single test. The sample material, consisting of the patient’s respiratory secretions, is liquefied. The bacterial strains are identified via the fluorescent signals easy to microscopically identify the most important bacteria – for example Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, or Escherichia coli. The doctor gets the results back within 40 minutes. According to the company, this direct detection also makes it easier to identify multiple infections and to determine the infection’s severity.
(Header: k_e_n – AdobeStock)
