Innovative laboratory equipment to identify pathogens directly from whole blood

Microbiologists are struggling to diagnose the causative agent of sepsis. Current blood culture takes 48 hours on average and the infection is only confirmed in 50% of the cases. But early diagnosis of these microbes and appropriate treatment make a critical difference when it comes to improving the chances of survival for septic patients.

The company Cube Dx offers laboratory equipment and innovative technology for the identification of pathogens directly from whole blood in less than 3 hours – without the need for culturing. This tremendous reduction in the diagnosis time enables early individualised antimicrobial treatment for the patient, lessens costly side effects and the length of stay in ICss.

Experts strongly recommend focusing on the early identification of the sepsis-causing microorganisms to personalize and limit antimicrobial treatment to reduce life-threatening complications. If a patient receives appropriate antimicrobial therapy within the first hour of clinical diagnosis, chances of survival are close to 80%; this goes down by 7.6% for every hour of delay.

The company Cubdex early Pathogen Identification directly from whole blood and other sample matrices reduces time to result to 3 hours. Therefore, targeted therapy can be chosen very quickly - even for patients already treated with antimicrobial agents.

The current pandemic of the new Corona virus (SARS-Cov-2) highlights the dangers of infections and demonstrates the need for fast and reliable diagnostic tools. However, even before the Corona pandemic a more deadly threat was and is largely neglected: sepsis.

Sepsis causes more than 8 million deaths annually and is caused mainly by bacteria. The ongoing spread of antibiotic resistance puts even more pressure on the health systems. Crucial for survival and quick recovery is an early diagnosis of the causative pathogen and its possible drug resistances.

After the development of a highly sensitive RT-PCR test for the new coronavirus SARS-Cov-2 and a lysis buffer that replaces conventional RNA extraction, the company Cube Dx is now preparing for the upcoming challenges of the next cold season: a broad screening for respiratory viruses and bacteria will enable physicians to rapidly stratify patients with respiratory symptoms.