( c resistance is a growing threat to the...)Technique speeds up detecting, treating wound bacteria

So far Finegold and his colleagues have been able use real-time PCR to detect 20 of the most common bacteria found in wounds, including one, Finegoldia magna, which had been named after him in the past. A World War II and Korean War veteran who confesses he's had an "ongoing love affair with anaerobes for several decades," Finegold has two additional eponymous bacteria--Alistipes finegoldia and Bacteroides finegoldii--that will probably also be found in wounds but aren't part of those detectable by PCR. Yet.

"We will definitely add to the list," he said. "We are currently basing our selection of organisms to detect (through real-time PCR) on the current literature on surgical infections, but we expect to find many more organisms with the molecular techniques we will use."

Finegold's research endeavors were funded, in part, by a grant from the DoD's Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program. Congress created the program in 1999 to promote research in health issues the military faces. Since its inception through 2005, the program has spent almost $300 million to fund nearly 200 projects in a range of medical topics, including combat casualty care and technology and infectious disease research.

Though Finegold's research funding comes from the Defense Department, his results will help both military and civilian patients.

"Most of us in infectious diseases are looking for ways to speed up microbiologic results so that we can treat more intelligently from the beginning," he said. "We see surgical wound infections commonly, and when the DoD put out a request for proposals it was an opportunity to get good funding so that we could make some headway in this important area."

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Source:US Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs