(Press-News.org) Washington, DC – Acute gastroenteritis afflicts adults of all ages, causing significant suffering and inflicting significant costs on the American healthcare system. A new study encompassing nearly 40,000 hospital visits from a geographically diverse healthcare database shows that sampling a single stool, using multiple polymerase chain reaction (PCR) panels, can identify more pathogens, notably diarrhea-causing E. coli and enteric viruses, and do so more rapidly than a conventional workup. The research is published in Journal of Clinical Microbiology, a publication of the American Society for Microbiology.
Using multiple PCR panels, “Fewer patients received antibiotics, required additional visits or diagnostic tests, or were hospitalized for gastroenteritis within 30 days [of index visit],” said Rena C. Moon, M.D., M.P.H., Principal Research Scientist, PINC AI Applied Sciences, Charlotte, NC. Additionally, healthcare costs were lower than with a conventional workup. Conventional workups may include testing a stool culture for a single suspect species of pathogen, use of a single pathogen PCR test, or identifying a pathogen using microscopy, immunology or an ova and parasites test.
“Earlier studies showed that large multiplex PCR panels improve the speed and accuracy of diagnostic testing in patients with acute gastroenteritis, but their impact on costs and clinical outcomes had been uncertain,” said Ferric C. Fang, M.D., Professor of Laboratory Medicine, Pathology, and Microbiology at the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle. “Our study shows that the benefits of multiplex panels can be achieved without increasing overall healthcare costs, and also facilitates more appropriate use of antibiotics.”
“This study illustrates the power of big data to analyze the healthcare impacts of diagnostic testing, and help laboratories select testing approaches that improve meaningful clinical outcomes,” Fang said.
Using multiplex PCR, more patients could be discharged and did not require hospitalization during the following month. That resulted in similar healthcare costs to patients undergoing the traditional stool work-up plus follow-up visits over the following month. Furthermore, multiplex PCR (using 12 or more) panels were associated with reduced administration of antibiotics to hospitalized patients.
The overall result: improved care with lower costs.
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The American Society for Microbiology is one of the largest professional societies dedicated to the life sciences and is composed of 30,000 scientists and health practitioners. ASM's mission is to promote and advance the microbial sciences.
ASM advances the microbial sciences through conferences, publications, certifications, educational opportunities and advocacy efforts. It enhances laboratory capacity around the globe through training and resources. It provides a network for scientists in academia, industry and clinical settings. Additionally, ASM promotes a deeper understanding of the microbial sciences to diverse audiences.
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Florida Atlantic University Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute has received $2.8 million to establish a queen conch hatchery in Grand Bahama. This support expands FAU Harbor Branch’s extensive aquaculture and food security program focused on replenishing queen conch populations throughout the Caribbean. It also enables development of a conceptual master plan for a 25-acre innovation hub on Grand Bahama for researchers working to solve issues of island sustainability.
The project is built on a network of collaborations to secure local support and participation. FAU Harbor Branch will partner with the Bahamian community of Grand Bahama on a pilot-scale queen conch ...
Celestial phenomena that change with time such as exploding stars, mysterious objects that suddenly brighten and variable stars are a new frontier in astronomical research, with telescopes that can rapidly survey the sky revealing thousands of these objects.
The largest data release of relatively nearby supernovae (colossal explosions of stars), containing three years of data from the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy’s (IfA) Pan-STARRS telescope atop Haleakalā on Maui, is publicly available via the Young Supernova Experiment (YSE). The project, which began in 2019, surveyed ...
Each year, the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine grants its Next Generation fellowship awards to promising early career professionals in a range of medical genetics and genomics specialties including Biochemical Genetics and Laboratory Genetics and Genomics. Support for this year’s class of Fellows was generously provided by Bionano Genomics, and Sanofi. The ACMG Foundation depends on corporate donations to support these and many other critical programs and thanks all the members of our Corporate Partners Program.
“I am ...
The ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine is proud to present the ACMG Foundation/David L. Rimoin Inspiring Excellence Award to Isabelle B. Cooperstein, BS for her featured platform presentation at the 2023 ACMG Annual Clinical Genetics Meeting, “Discovery and therapeutic implications of pathogenic retroelements in neurodegenerative diseases.”
Isabelle B. Cooperstein, BS, is a third-year PhD candidate in the Department of Human Genetics at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. She obtained a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology ...
AMES, IA – Since 1970, the number of people living outside their countries of birth has tripled. Most migrants are looking for work or better economic opportunities. But millions seek to escape violence, persecution or natural disasters. Their integration into a new society often depends on non-governmental organizations that provide services and advocate on their behalf.
A recently published study highlights how the specific political and cultural context of a country affects the NGOs’ communication with the public.
Co-author and Iowa State Professor Daniela Dimitrova specializes in international journalism and global media coverage. ...
Nara Lygia de Macena Sobreira, MD, PhD is the recipient of the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine’s 2023 Dr. Michael S. Watson Genetic and Genomic Medicine Innovation Award—the “Watson Award”—named for the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics first and longstanding executive director, Michael S. Watson, MS, PhD, FACMG.
“I am honored and grateful for receiving the 2023 Dr. Michael S. Watson Genetic and Genomic Medicine Innovation Award. Since the beginning of my medical genetics residency in Brazil, I have been blessed to work with amazing mentors and colleagues in innovative ...
March 15, 2023 – In response to an article published in the February issue of The Hearing Journal, the audiology and hearing solutions company ReSound donated nearly 120 rechargeable hearing aids to address the hearing health care crisis among Ukrainian refugees in Poland. The Hearing Journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.
The hearing aids were given to the Heart of Hearing team, which is led by King Chung, PhD, CCC-A, professor of audiology at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, IL and the director of the audiology ...
SPOKANE, Wash.—People living in the United States must travel significantly farther to access methadone treatment for opioid addiction than Canadians, suggests a new study led by Washington State University researchers.
Published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, the researchers’ analysis showed that the average driving distance to the closest methadone clinic accepting new patients was more than three times greater in the U.S. compared to Canada. When limiting their analysis to clinics that could provide treatment within 48 hours the difference was even larger, with those in the U.S. having to travel more than five times farther than their ...
Researchers from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and University of Amsterdam published a new Journal of Marketing study that examines how sugar reduction strategies affect new product sales.
The study, forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing, is titled “A War on Sugar? Effects of Reduced Sugar Content and Package Size in The Soda Category” and is authored by Kristopher O. Keller and Jonne Y. Guyt.
The United States has a sugar problem. Excessive ...
Alexander M. Holtz, MD, PhD is the recipient of the 2023 Richard King Trainee Award. This award was instituted by the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine to encourage American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ABMGG), international equivalents, or genetic counseling trainees in their careers and to foster the publication of the highest quality research in Genetics in Medicine (GIM), an official journal of the ACMG.
Each year the editorial board reviews all articles published in GIM by eligible trainees ...
