Antibiotic resistance is an emerging crisis. At Complex Laboratories, our solution is an antibiotic stewardship program designed to improve the appropriate use of antibiotics by promoting the identification of infectious pathogens.
As early as 1945, Sir Alexander Fleming raised the alarm regarding antibiotic overuse when he warned that the “public will demand the drug… then will begin an era… of abuses.” The overuse of antibiotics clearly drives the evolution of resistance. At Complex Laboratories, we do not believe in faulting patients demanding antibiotics or prescribers writing them incorrectly. The tools to make the correct decision have not been readily available to them. Interestingly, most if not all antibiotic stewardship programs fail to include the most important weapon to win this war – pathogen identification. Current antibiotic stewardship programs are based on pathogen suspicion and limiting antibiotics, usually after a wait-and-see approach. However, most common syndromic infections present similarly and are caused by more than 200 common pathogens
At Complex Laboratories, our solution is an antibiotic stewardship program designed to improve the appropriate use of antibiotics by promoting the identification of infectious pathogens. The science of medicine is rigorous and rooted in objective data. Molecular (genetic) identification, using PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction), is the ideal platform to use. Rapid detection using Real-Time PCR increases our chances of selecting the appropriate treatment regimen from 30% to 99.9%. Molecular testing is superior to traditional culture identification because some pathogens are just too difficult to grow.
At Complex Laboratories, we believe our clinical lab services are second to none. Our vision of the ideal antimicrobial stewardship program begins with our testing. We offer a comprehensive identification solution to best understand the infectious pathogen. Our lab identifies the pathogen(s) present using very sensitive and specific PCR assays. In addition, if indicated, we perform a rapid culture to confirm the genotype while also confirming the phenotype. Ultimately a treatment decision has to be made. Knowing the presence of any specific antimicrobial resistance genes guides the clinician to determine what NOT to use. In addition, phenotyping antimicrobial susceptibility is the definitive guide to direct what to use. Having both pathogen genotype and phenotype assures a timely, accurate diagnosis and sustainable treatment plan
