DNA analyzes show resistant germs faster

Fast DNA analysis in the fight against resistant germs

06/03/2014

Up to 15,000 people die each year in Germany, because they become infected in hospitals with dangerous pathogens. New DNA analyzes are now to help speed up the treatment. Resistant germs can be determined within four hours.

Four hours for the analysis
The fight against antibiotic-resistant hospital germs will be accelerated in the future by a plastic cartridge the size of a cigar box. These boxes then come in an analyzer, where the DNA of the pathogen is copied, multiplied and determines the type of germ and its resistance to drugs. As the managing director of the manufacturer Curetis AG in Holzgerlingen (Böblingen), Oliver Schacht, said, this minilab needed just over four hours for his analysis. „The system is so simple that a hospital nurse can use it at three evenings“, so shaft. The analysis took up to three days with the usual method (culture medium, Petri dish, growth, assessment)..

Annually up to 15,000 deaths from hospital germs
Prof. Udo Reischl from the Institute for Microbiology and Hygiene at the University of Regensburg, explained: „This is impractical for hospitals. Doctors often need to know quickly if a patient is colonized with highly resistant bacteria.“ The cases of infection in German hospitals are estimated by experts to be six figures per year. According to information from 20,000 to 40,000 deaths, the Federal Ministry of Health calls 7,500 to 15,000 cases. Experts speak of a global increase in multidrug-resistant bacterial strains. The resistant pathogens spread more and more by the use of unspecific broad-spectrum antibiotics. Schacht calls that „Evolution in fast-forward.“

High costs
The cartridge system should now also enable physicians to use pharmaceuticals more precisely. According to Schacht, the diagnostic devices cost up to 55,000 euros. At the moment they are being asked by the hospitals they are testing. The disposable cartridges cost 192 to 262 euros and per intensive care unit, the need for about 200 tests a year. According to Reischl, there are also significantly cheaper DNA analyzes. But he meant „Health insurance companies only want to introduce new technology if it is cost-neutral.“ Since a day in the intensive care unit could cost between € 2,000 and € 2,500, according to Schacht, money can be saved with faster and more targeted treatments. „Every hour I can handle earlier shortens recuperation“, explained Peter Walger from the German Society for Hospital Hygiene. However, he also sees a danger in rapid diagnostics: „The medical reality is complex. It is a long way off to take a sample and decide on the bed. Pure proof often says little.“

Seniors are particularly at risk
For most infections, the so-called MRSA germ („Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus“) responsible. These are pathogens that are resistant to all current market available beta-lactam antibiotics such as penicillin and only to the treatment with so-called „Reserve antibiotics“ speak to. People with weakened immune systems and seniors are at particular risk. Last year, two-thirds of people were 70 or older. Typical symptoms after infection range from inflammation, diarrhea, pneumonia, nausea and vomiting to blood poisoning. Not only the frivolous use of antibiotics, but also lack of sterility is associated with the spread of such „superbugs“ connected. (Ad)