Speedy DNA Test for 12 Viruses Approved by FDA

SoyChemist writes "Last week, the FDA approved a test that can check for twelve viruses at once. The device is made by Luminex which has a long history of building instruments that can check for almost anything — bacteria, viruses, antibodies, disease genes. In this case, doctors can simply swab their patient's nose or throat then send the sample to a lab where the viral genetic material is copied and stuck down to color-coated beads. Each type of bead recognizes a different virus. A scanner reads off which beads have DNA on them — thus identifying the pathogens. The new test can detect several types of influenza, but not H5N1, and is the first system approved to detect human metapneumovirus. It is a good step towards taking the guesswork out of medicine, which is desperately needed since viral infections are extraordinarily hard to diagnose, and antiviral medications like Tamiflu only work on some types of virus."

Re:Less useful than it might appear

[jdgeorge]

I'm sure this new test will not be cheap, so that if we start using this test widely, we may end up spending a lot of money without signficant clinical benefit to patients. As everyone knows, healthcare in the US is already horrifically expensive - tests such as these won't help..

My understanding is that something that helps identify viral infections quickly (and cheaply) would be beneficial in that it would allow doctors to properly diagnose whether an illness is viral or bacterial. This would help reduce the use of "shotgun antibiotics" which are given frequently when the caregiver is uncertain whether the problem in viral or bacterial.

Reducing the use of unnecessary antibiotics seems like the major benefit, if my understanding is correct, as it would help reduce our production of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (though I expect that much of that problem is due to patients not taking their full course of antibiotics... a separate problem).