- Doctors in England are already trialling the £12 FebriDx finger-prick test
- A pilot study found the test changed a GP’s decision in 48 per cent of cases
- It cut number of unnecessary prescriptions for respiratory problems by 80%
A 15-minute blood test could slash the number of unnecessary antibiotics given to patients by 80 per cent.
Doctors in England are already trialling the £12 finger-prick test, which tells a GP whether a patient truly needs antibiotics for a chest complaint.
The test, called FebriDx, changed a GP’s decision in 48 per cent of cases, a pilot study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases & Preventive Medicine found.
A 15-minute blood test could slash the number of unnecessary antibiotics given to patients by 80 per cent (stock image)
And it cut the number of unnecessary prescriptions given for respiratory problems by 80 per cent, according to the trial at a practice in Dronfield, Derbyshire.
The test works by placing a spot of blood on a card. Within 15 minutes, lines appear on a display panel, indicating whether a virus or bacterial infection is present.
The card tracks the levels of two proteins – C-reactive protein, a marker of bacterial infection, and myxovirus resistance protein A, which appears when there is a viral infection.
RPS Diagnostics, the US firm which makes the test, will this week announce a major push to get the product into GP practices across the UK.
A similar scheme is being tested by Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Clinical Commissioning Group which serves 235,000 patients.
If rolled out nationally such tests could prove a badly needed tool in the battle against superbugs.