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Hospitals set to tackle ‘superbug’

DUBAI — Hospitals in the UAE will soon have access to a new five-hour culture-based test that detects the ‘superbug’ Methicillin-Resistant Staphyloccocus Aureus (MRSA) direct from clinical specimens.

According to reports, MRSA is the most significant of hospital infections and causes 5,000 deaths in the United Kingdom each year. MRSA is a type of bacteria that has become increasingly resistant to antibiotics. The new 3M ‘BacLite’ Rapid MRSA Test will help clinicians quickly identify MRSA colonised patients.

In this test, a confirmed negative test result would be available within five hours and a confirmed positive result in 24 hours, about half the time of previous tests.

The improved speed of these results will mean that staff can act quickly to identify at-risk patients, take appropriate action promptly to control the spread of infection and thereby help prevent the increasing burden of hospital-acquired infections.

According to Dr. Mohammed Al Kaabi, Medical Microbiologist, Tawam Hospital, in affiliation with Johns Hopkins Medicine, Al Ain, UAE, “The 3M ‘BacLite’ Rapid MRSA Test is unique when compared to the time-consuming traditional culture-based screening methods, which takes at least 48 hours to produce test results. Also, the test is unique when compared to the expensive molecular diagnostic tests.”

Dr. Al Kaabi added, “Due to the time delay, patients are exposed to the general hospital population, increasing the risk of passing on the infection to other patients.

“ It is widely agreed that there is a high cost associated with patient isolation awaiting MRSA screening results and the urgent need for a rapid screening method that will help to reduce the length of patient stay and therefore the cost.”

The new test also gives the hospital the speed needed at a relatively acceptable price, something that is becoming more and more important with cost containment a big issue.