LONGMONT, Colo.--()--The October 17 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association includes an article on the increasing incidence and burden of invasive MRSA (Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus) infections. These infections were reported to be approximately 32 infections per 100,000 people in the U.S., which translates to more than 94,000 of these infections in 2005 (the study year). "This is a significant public health problem. We should be very worried," said Scott K. Fridkin, a medical epidemiologist at the CDC and author of the study, in an article published in today’s Washington Post.
“This is a significant public health problem. We should be very worried”
The majority of these invasive infections were found to occur outside of the hospital setting (58%); however, the authors noted that “…most of these infections were caused by MRSA strains of health care origin,” suggesting that these patients acquired these bacteria from recent hospital stays or as a nursing home resident.
Articles such as these have prompted states such as Illinois, Pennsylvania and, most recently, New Jersey to make all MRSA infections that occur in hospitals and in other healthcare settings publicly reportable. Considered mainly preventable by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“Medicare”), the agency announced that they will no longer pay for these infections that come from hospital settings. Under the new regulation, Medicare will only pay for MRSA infections if the hospital can prove that the patient had the bug “upon admission.” This action by Medicare has hospitals racing to set up programs to determine who is coming into their hospitals with MRSA and who may be contracting it from inside their facilities.
MicroPhage, Inc., an early stage medical diagnostics company located just outside Denver, CO, thinks it has developed a novel diagnostic to counter this superbug crisis. It uses viruses that attack MRSA and can be detected on a home-pregnancy-like device. The private company recently raised more than $1.6M in a Series A-2 round in private placements to scale up product development efforts of its rapid test to screen for MRSA in hospitals, outpatient surgery centers, dialysis centers, and skilled nursing facilities. By rapidly identifying carriers of MRSA, healthcare workers can work effectively to manage patients better, reducing their chances to have life-treatening infections or risk transmission to other hospitalized patients.
The MicroPhage test uses bacteriophages, the natural enemy of bacteria and harmless to humans, to identify the presence of the bacteria. As they do not have a way to replicate on their own, these “phages” need specific hosts to replicate. It is this replication that MicroPhage uses to determine MRSA quickly and efficiently, using a dipstick device not unlike a home pregnancy test to measure its replication. Running paired samples allows hospital staff to determine whether the Staph that is present is resistant or susceptible to antibiotics, providing more information that is currently available.
Current microbiology methods can take 48 – 72 hours to identify the organism, which translates into 2 – 3 days of hospital staff not knowing whether the patient is at higher risk for infection and transmission to other patients. The MicroPhage technology allows for identification in 10 hours. Unlike sophisticated molecular technologies that have recently come to the hospitals to identify these pathogens within the day, the MicroPhage technology doesn’t require a capital purchase of equipment, specially trained staff, and is expected to cost one-half the price of these tests. Its simple format is expected to fit the needs of smaller hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare facilities that traditional microbiology and molecular testing cannot provide.
“First you need to know who has what,” says John Wheeler, MicroPhage Founder. “Only then can physicians and healthcare staff really help protect patients from getting these horrible ‘superbug’ infections. MicroPhage provides an easy-to-use tool for healthcare workers to protect their patients.”
The company has raised more than $6M in angel investments to date to develop the novel bacteriophage-based diagnostic platform and commercialize clinical tests for bacteria such as MRSA. MicroPhage is actively pursuing distribution partners that can help the company place its easy-to-use test into markets such as surgery centers and small hospitals that are currently unserved by today’s diagnostics.
About MicroPhage, Inc:
MicroPhage has developed a patented amplification process to create rapid, simple, inexpensive bacteria detection for any industry where bacteria is important to be utilized or needs to be managed.
The company has chosen to focus its initial efforts to help solve medical crises involving such problems as over use of antibiotics and antibiotic resistant bacteria. Its first products are anticipated to set a new standard for clinicians and hospital staff in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) identification and antibiotic testing.
References:
Invasive Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infections in the United States
JAMA. 2007;298:1763-1771.
R. Monina Klevens, DDS, MPH; Melissa A. Morrison, MPH; Joelle Nadle, MPH; Susan Petit, MPH; Ken Gershman, MD, MPH; Susan Ray, MD; Lee H. Harrison, MD; Ruth Lynfield, MD; Ghinwa Dumyati, MD; John M. Townes, MD; Allen S. Craig, MD; Elizabeth R. Zell, MSTAT; Gregory E. Fosheim, MPH; Linda K. McDougal, MS; Roberta B. Carey, PhD; Scott K. Fridkin, MD; for the Active Bacterial Core surveillance (ABCs) MRSA Investigators
Association for Infection Control (APIC) Website – Legislation in Progress. Available at: http://www.apic.org/scriptcontent/custom/dyncontent/legislation/ index.cfm?section=government_advocacy.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Website: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/
October 17 Washington Post: Drug-Resistant Staph Germ's Toll Is Higher Than Thought
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention MRSA Website: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/ar_mrsa.html
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