The treatment for meningitis would now take lesser time than before as Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given its nodding to Xpert EV test that uses molecular biology to quickly detect the presence of viral meningitis. The permission of this test would help physicians distinguish between viral meningitis and the less-common, but more severe, version of meningitis caused by bacteria.
Where commonly used diagnostic tests for meningitis take up to a week to get results, on the other hand, Xpert EV test could make results available within two and one-half hours. Telling about this new timesaving test Daniel Schultz, M.D., director of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health said:
Because this test is significantly faster than existing methods for diagnosing meningitis, it could minimize delays in treating patients. Swift recognition of the cause and appropriate treatment is critical to patient recovery.
Another interesting thing about Xpert EV test is that it is fully-automated medical diagnostic test, which isolates and amplifies viral genetic material present in a patient’s cerebrospinal fluid through a process, which is known as reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.
In addition, results of Xpert EV test are more accurate than typically used methods. This confirms the test in which a total of 255 patient samples were tested and demonstrated that 96 per cent of the patients who tested positive did have viral meningitis and that 97 of patients who were tested negative were found without meningitis. In brief, it could be asserted that Xpert EV test is bound to revolutionize the way in which tests of meningitis patients are conducted.
Image credit: abhuk
Via: English.people
