Image: RNA sequencing directly from complete blood is to extend access to IVRI tests (photo with kind permission of Carb-X)
Pneumonia and lower respiratory tract infections (IVRI) are among the main causes of disease and death around the world, especially in vulnerable populations such as older, young children and immunosuppressive people. One of the main challenges to diagnose pneumonia is the difficulty to obtain a corresponding sample and often no pathogen is identified. Without a clear microbiological diagnosis, a wide -expedition of antibiotics is usually administered, increasing the risk of antibiotics resistance and poor patient results if missed antibiotics are selected. The absence of fast and accurate diagnostic tools only worsens this situation and prevents the ability to provide personalized treatment and lead to excessive use of antibiotics. Scientists are now investigating the possibility of detecting bacterial pneumonia directly from blood samples to improve access to IVRI tests.
Hospital Rhode Island Hospital (Providence, RI, USA) received a million dollars from the fight against antibiotically resistant bacteria Biofarmaceutical Accelerator (Carb-X, Boston, Ma, EUA) to develop the polymerase chain reaction method (PCR) based on RNA sequence to detect bacterial pneumonia. Carb-X is a non-profit global cooperation aimed at promoting research and early phase of antibacterial therapies in the fight against the growing problem of resistance to antibiotics. The goal is to detect pneumonia caused Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa y Haemophilus influenzaeThe use of complete blood samples, which is less invasive compared to traditional methods that require respiratory samples such as bronchoscopy or deep suction.
This simplified method, which means extraction of the arm from the arm through the needle injection, has the potential to expand the approach to tests and to speed up the current IVRI test methods, which will allow testing in primary care centers around the world instead of tertiary care. Unlike traditional microbiological tests, this method will not require sampling and provide results in just four hours. The RNA focus ensures that the infection is active because RNA degrades much faster than DNA and only takes minutes or hours when it comes from bacteria. This technique immediately stabilizes the RNA for the test and, as RNA is directed, identifies bacteria that actively produce proteins of resistance, instead of simply detecting bacteria that can carry resistance genes.
“Carb-X support focuses on the development of direct diagnosis of lower respiratory tract infections expands our current work supported by NIH to form a direct diagnosis from the blood, independently of the crop, pathogens that cause sepsis focused on RNA bacteria using patient sequencing data.”
“This innovative diagnostic approach has the potential to improve access to lower airway infections, including pneumonia, allowing doctors to make faster and faster decisions and reduce the use of wide spectral antibiotics,” added Erin Duffy, PhD, R&D director and Carb-X. “By supporting the work of Rhode Island Hospital, Carb-X learns if the types of alternative samples are promising acute respiratory infections to the development of future products.”
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