New Research Shows MicroPhage Test Accurately and Rapidly Detects Serious Bacterial ...( LONGMONT Colo. Nov. 18 /- A simple an...),Health

LONGMONT, Colo., Nov. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- A simple and inexpensive developmental diagnostic assay produced by MicroPhage, Inc., http://www.microphage.com, was shown to be highly accurate for rapid detection of serious staph bacteria infections and for simultaneous assessment of antibiotic susceptibility. The research was reported in three scientific presentations at the recent Interscience Conference on Anti-microbial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC).

In the first presentation, MicroPhage scientists reported that their novel platform to simultaneously identify Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections and determine antibiotic resistance or susceptibility can provide highly accurate results in just 5 hours. The current standard of care is 48- 72 hours for the same determinations.

Infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus account for 400,000 deaths a year and the methicillin-resistant strains, known as MRSA, now account for nearly half of all S. aureus infections. Current test methods are too slow to allow doctors to make prompt treatment decisions. As a result, many antibiotics are over or under prescribed. This leads to proliferation of drug-resistant strains and suboptimal treatment of infected patients.

"The simplicity, accuracy and speed of the MicroPhage procedure gives clinicians a valuable tool to obtain diagnostic information they need to make the right therapeutic decisions to treat serious bacterial infections," said Drew Smith, PhD, director of research and development for MicroPhage.

In a laboratory model of 240 strains of bacteria, the MicroPhage test had an excellent detection rate for S. aureus of 93 percent, while also determining methicillin resistance or susceptibility (MRSA or MSSA) at greater than 98 percent reliability, which is superior to several commercially available tests.

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