AIT develops new methods for the fast and cost-effective diagnosis of life-threatening diseases in a recently launched EU project. As ever more antibiotics are losing their effectiveness, the researchers are hoping to enable targeted therapy through rapid analysis of the pathogens.
Super bacteria on the rise
Improved medical treatment with antibiotics and vaccination campaigns have led to significant progress in the fight against infectious diseases and the associated pathogens. Over the past few years, however, these advances have gradually slowed down due to the extreme adaptability of bacteria and viruses.
Almost all known pathogens have developed resistance to antibiotics as a result of the increased and often inappropriate use of antibiotics in medicine and agriculture. Some of these pathogens can therefore not be treated with conventional drugs. Although life-threatening bacteria so called “super bacteria” are still rare in Europe, we are seeing a constant increase in infectious diseases that cannot be treated with available medication due to the massive spread of resistant pathogens in non-European countries.
The Horizon 2020 project FAPIC (Fast Assay for Pathogen Identification and Characterization) sets out to develop two diagnostic systems that can identify all known pathogens and associated antibiotic resistances with only one test. One system will be fully automatic and is intended for use in larger hospitals and reference centres. The second, smaller system is designed for independent laboratories, medical practices and developing countries.