Score some CEUs while you learn
Many Luminex users are quite familiar with the debate about molecular versus microbiology testing, having already made the leap to our molecular assays from conventional microbiology assays such as cultures. For the latest details on this debate, don’t miss a new article in Medical Laboratory Observer from our own Sherry Dunbar. (Bonus: it’s part of a continuing education series that offers CEU credits!)
“Diagnostic and health trends increase demand for molecular testing” explores the increasing shift from standard microbiology workflows to molecular diagnostics for infectious disease testing. “Microbiology will always play a key role in the clinical lab, but molecular diagnostics has been making a cogent case that it will be a staple of laboratory science as well, and in some cases will supplant the older technologies,” Dunbar writes.
The Need for Speed
One of the biggest reasons for this is the need for speed. Molecular assays enable rapid testing in a way that laborious microbiology procedures rarely can, often delivering results in a couple of hours or even faster. Additionally, the rise of antibiotic resistance makes it even more important to generate results quickly: rapid answers allow healthcare teams to avoid prescribing unnecessary antibiotics, and to select the most effective treatment for each specific case, even when a pathogen might have antibiotic resistance markers. As Dunbar puts it, “Microbiology methods typically require several days to generate [resistance marker data], but antimicrobial stewardship programs striving to get patients on targeted treatments cannot afford this kind of delay. Molecular tests now allow clinical lab teams to deliver this data within the first day.”
Specific, Sensitive, and Accurate
Other reasons for increased adoption of molecular tests include a reduction in the number of working laboratorians with the needed skill sets to conduct microbiology tests; today’s training tends to skip over these skills, leading to a workforce more comfortable with molecular assays. Also, the availability of more data about molecular assays has helped lab experts recognize the superior performance of these tests, which are often more specific, sensitive, and accurate than their microbiology cousins.
“With rapid results, ease of use, and higher accuracy,” Dunbar writes, “molecular diagnostics are replacing microbiology options for many types of infectious diseases—and in some cases introducing entirely new tests for pathogens that could never be diagnosed through microbiology.”
Click here to read the complete article.
Resources
- Trends in Microbial Testing and Antibiotic Resistance Detection — Blog
- Diagnostic Advances Put Testing Where It’s Best For The Patient — Online Publication
- Flexible Respiratory Pathogen Testing: Why Clinical Laboratories No Longer Have to Settle — White Paper
- Investment Needed in Antimicrobial Stewardship — Blog
- Luminex Case Study: St. John Providence & ARIES® — Video
- Luminex Case Study: Med Fusion & VERIGENE® — Video
