Virus Or Bacteria? Test To Reduce Antibiotic Use

Tests are urgently needed to minimize the prescription of antibiotics for viral infections as only bacterial infections respond to antibiotics.

20:29 26 October 2015

The Review on Antimicrobial Resistance (RAM) calls for rapid diagnostic tests to avoid or minimize the overuse of antibiotics. The review team aims to differentiate viral from bacterial infections as only the latter respond to antibiotics. The team said that such tests could stop the prescription of antibiotics that are not needed in the first place.

 

The team added that doctors’ surgeries are under pressure to treat patients much faster, which leads to “enormous unnecessary antibiotic use.” Currently, it takes 36 hours for diagnostic test to confirm the infection. In many cases, patients are given powerful antibiotics when not needed.

 

The report cited patients in UK with gonorrhoea who were given powerful antibiotics although 80per cent of cases would have responded to less powerful drugs with few side effects. As a result, the cases of drug-resistant gonorrhoea are increasing.

 

The AMR review team has proposed a Global Innovation fund of $2billion over five years to promote research into new antibiotics and to support the development of rapid diagnostics.