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Watch VideoNew test can identify MRSA bacteria in hours instead of days
Story By: Jamie Smith
Source: NBC
Two Utah hospitals have a new machine that tests for the dangerous drug-resistant staph bacteria MRSA in only two hours. That means patients and their doctors know almost immediately what they're up against.
Instead of 48 hours to grow staph in petri dishes, the machine identifies the villain's DNA in only two hours. "Because we're working with DNA, DNA is specific, so it codes, you're looking at like a 99.99 percent accuracy rate with this," explained Angie Silva, microbiology supervisor at St. Mark's Hospital in Salt Lake City.
One of the remarkable features of this test is how small the sample is. "You need one gene, and it codes from that gene on and replicates itself; and that's it," Silva said.
Silva says since doctors are notified within two hours, treatment begins immediately, hopefully before MRSA takes the patient down.
