Microcapillary antibiotic susceptibility testing to aid UTI treatment

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Development of a point-of-care antibiotic susceptibility testing to aid urinary tract infection treatment using dip-and test microcapillary devices

• IRAS ID

  316558

• Contact name

  Alexander Edwards

• Contact email

  a.d.edwards@reading.ac.uk

• Duration of Study in the UK

  2 years, 11 months, 31 days

• Research summary

  “Water infections” or Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) are a very common condition. UTI accounts for up to 3% of all General Practice (GP) appointments and 15% of all antibiotics prescribed within general practice. In England, NHS hospitals spend £400 million per year treating UTI. Based on clinical diagnosis in conjunction with the result of the urine dipstick test, doctors usually prescribe a broad-spectrum antibiotic (one that is effective against many types of bacteria). However, of those people diagnosed with UTI, antibiotics are prescribed for between 34%-60% of them before their diagnosis can be confirmed by the laboratory. To identify the specific bacteria causing the infection, a urine specimen needs to be sent to a laboratory where it is grown and tested to determine which antibiotic would be most
  effective against it. It takes 1-3 days to obtain results, and samples aren’t taken from all patients. This overuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics has led to the emergence of bacteria which are resistant to several antibiotics and can also put patients at risk of infection from “super bacteria”. Developing resistance to an antibiotic is associated with longer recovery times, increased GP visits and increased overall healthcare costs.

  Using clinical remnant urine samples and urine samples collected as part of routine care, this project will develop and evaluate a rapid, portable test that checks for antibiotic drug resistance in bacteria responsible for UTIs so that clinicians can treat the infection with the most appropriate antibiotic drug, maximising the likelihood that the infection
  will be cleared.
  We will: 1) undertake a clinical study designed to define the fastest possible test that achieves clinical accuracy with patient samples; 2) design and build a pre-production prototype device, and fully test it; 3) develop an effective strategy to facilitate adoption of the technology by the NHS.

• REC name

  South Central - Berkshire Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  22/SC/0393

• Date of REC Opinion

  5 Oct 2022

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion