# Is your hospital getting one of thses high speed MERSA testers.



## Russell Williams (Aug 13, 2012)

Does anyone know of a reason your local hospital should not have one?

http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm309950.htm

I will again tes the link to be sure it works.


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## Miss Vickie (Aug 13, 2012)

Reading the FDA's press notice carefully, it states that this is a test used after a positive blood culture. Not all cases of MRSA present as septicemia (infection of the blood). So this test isn't really for wound infections per se, but for systemic blood infections (and it takes two days, at least, for a blood culture to finish "cooking" so there is already a two day wait).

That being said, on the surface of it, it seems like a good idea. I think it's dangerous to over-treat an infection with a more powerful antibiotic than necessary, so if we know just what we're dealing with -- that's a good thing. 

On the other hand, some of these immediate tests lose a lot of specificity and accuracy for their quickness. I've seen this personally with the "rapid strep tests" where people have a negative test and end up culture positive, and vice versa. I think these tests are great but they aren't a replacement for good clinical judgment.


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