The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new diagnostic test (Cobas vivoDx MRSA), which uses bacteriophage technology to detect the presence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonization within 5 hours. The conventional culture technique takes 24 to 48 hours for detection. In a press release, Tim Stenzel, MD, director of FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, has stated that diagnostic tests that can give accurate results quickly can provide an advantage to healthcare providers in preventing the spread of resistant bacteria.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that about 3,23,700 hospitalizations and 10,600 deaths were due to the drug-resistant bacterium in 2017. About 5% of hospitalized patients carry MRSA bacteria in their nose and skin. However, most of them do not develop serious infections involving…
