A group of GP clinics in Geelong in Victoria is conducting trials to help fight antimicrobial resistance. Normally it can take days for tests to produce a result for bacterial infections, but the use of throat swabs and finger prick tests have the potential to provide almost instant results. Knowing if infections are bacterial would give doctors more certainty before prescribing antibiotics.
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00:00Over the last couple of years, the antibiotics have been misused and inappropriately used
00:07a lot.
00:08For instance, in the community, around 30 to 50% antibiotic prescriptions are not appropriate
00:14either by the choice of antibiotic, the dose of antibiotics and the duration of antibiotics.
00:20So this is mainly causing the resistance to the bacteria.
00:24And so how will this finger prick test and throat swab potentially address the overuse
00:31of antibiotics?
00:34The finger prick test, it actually tells how severe the infection is and how likely it
00:41is bacterial.
00:42And that piece of clinical information actually help guide a GP and any doctors to make decision
00:48whether the patient need antibiotics or not.
00:52And the test result comes in two to three minutes time, which is very feasible in the
00:57general practice settings.
00:59On the other hand, the swab test actually 100% accurately pick up whether the sore throat
01:06infection is caused by group-based disturbed bacteria.
01:10And that actually really help guide the antibiotic treatment for the patient.
01:15So is this Geelong test part of a bit of a global effort to work out just how effective
01:20these tests are?
01:23So the point of gas therapy testing has been trialled globally and it has shown that this
01:30has enormous impact in terms of reducing antibiotic use in the community.
01:35And the result shows that 40 to 60% antibiotics can be reduced by using the point of gas therapy
01:44testing.
01:46And the swab testing that I'm using, that is quite novel.
01:50It hasn't been trialled globally, but I'm doing this test in Geelong at the moment,
01:57but I'll be doing the pilot trial and the bigger randomised control trial in the next
02:01stage.
02:03And so do you feel like you're part of something really important here?
02:06Because this could be a bit of a revolution in trying to stop the resistance building.
02:14It is.
02:15I'm as a researcher really proud of working as an antibiotic expert.
02:20So you think, you know, globally 7 million people are dying around the world because
02:25antibiotics are not working.
02:27So I feel great if I can help the clinicians to make an optimal decision of using antibiotics
02:34and help patients saving from the harmful effect of misuse of antibiotics and broadly
02:41to help the government to tackle these issues.
02:45So absolutely.
02:46I'm really happy and to be contributing more in the field in future.
02:51But are there some limitations with these tests in the types of bacteria detected and
02:56with challenges with secondary infections?
03:00I think the swab testing is rightly pick up the group A, so that is very specific and
03:09100% accurately pick up the bacteria.
03:12On the other hand, the CRP is not a specific biomarker.
03:16It doesn't really tell us who is bacteria actually causing infection, but it is an indication
03:23that the infection might be bacterial, but the test result could be interpreted with
03:29the other clinical assessment by the general practitioner or any doctors for any particular
03:35infection.
03:36So mostly lower respiratory tract infections, the CRP test result like, you know, is very
03:43useful to avoid antibiotic misuse in pneumonia and other infection as well.
03:49So do you feel like in 10 years time or so, this could really make a big difference?
03:56I mean, it is.
03:57We need the next phase of research is going to be to determine whether this test is cost
04:03effective or not.
04:04If we can prove that this test is cost effective and we can introduce this test at a larger
04:10scale in the community and the hospital, and it would have enormous impact to optimize
04:16antibiotic use in the routine practice.
04:18And this is something that would help establish antimicrobial structure programs in the community
04:27level and it increase the awareness among the patient and the general population that
04:32I should not use this antibiotic unless I have the bacterial infection.
04:37So it would have the breakthrough in addressing the challenges of antibiotic resistance around
04:43the world.