Funding boost for rapid genetic test to diagnose infection

A two-year pilot trialling genomic technology that enables rapid detection of infectious diseases in hospital patients has received funding from NHS England and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

The test will enable doctors to identify the causes of serious respiratory infections within seven hours, as opposed to the standard three days, meaning that patients could potentially be given the right medication on the same day.

Following the announcement, Professor Ian Abbs, co-chair of the South East Genomic Medicine Service said: 'It is vital that the sickest patients in our intensive care unit receive the right medication as quickly as possible. This new genetic test can make that happen and we are delighted that we now have funding to ensure other intensive care units, and their patients, can also benefit.'

The rollout of the test follows a successful trial at Guy's and St Thomas's hospitals in London. It uses an approach called 'metagenomics' which screens for all possible pathogens simultaneously, rather than looking for a specific bacteria or virus.

'Historically, we used to try and fish with a rod and pick up one bug. We're now fishing with a massive net and so we can pick up everything within the patient, but use the combination of biology and data analysis, the combination of digital biology now to take us to a much faster diagnosis in hours,' explained Professor Abbs.

In the trial, this approach helped around half of patients get the right treatment more quickly. As a bonus, the findings are also used to monitor what strains of pathogens are in circulation, which may help predict future outbreaks (see BioNews 1225).

The pilot has received £2.08 million investment from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, as well as £1.3 million from NHS England. The funding will enable the expansion of the genomic sequencing ability across ten hospitals in England.