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MRSA breakthrough for hospital
THE screening of patients for the potentially-fatal superbug MRSA can now be done in a matter of hours through the groundworking work of an Abergavenny-based company.
JMJ Laboratories - the pathology division of healthcare support systems giant Synergy Healthcare - has launched a new screening service which promises to cut the screening time for MRSA (methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus) from two days to a maximum four hours.
The new service makes use of a process called Polymerase Chain Reaction, providing a highly sensitive, MRSA-specific test.
It is being targeted at emergency and elective admissions, the company believing that with the latter it will be possible to screen immediately prior to admission, thereby reducing the risk of patients acquiring MRSA bacteria in the period between screening and admission.
"The screening service has been developed to deliver a fast turnaround and a highly accurate result," said Anne Macmillan, marketing director of Synergy's patient care division.
"It will enable healthcare providers to screen patients much more effectively and quickly for MRSA and reduce the risk of outbreaks occurring in hospitals."
Screening patients for MRSA on arrival at hospital is becoming increasingly common, an initiative designed to reduce the occurrence of the organism in hospitals.
Such screening is a precautionary step aimed at identifying the five-seven per cent of patients entering hospitals who are already carrying MRSA. If they are identified in advance they can be treated in isolation.
The screening test and service developed by JMJ Laboratories can be used in hospitals, residential homes and other care facilities, and is being used by the NHS and by private healthcare providers.
Alison Payne, managing director of JMJ Laboratories, said reducing the screening time is of "critical importance" to hospitals in the battle to control the spread of MRSA with intensive infection control programmes.
1:44pm Thursday 8th May 2008
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