Point-of-Care Testing for Microbial Infectious Diseases: The Urgent Need for New Novel Tests

Infectious diseases have been a major threat to human health throughout history, causing significant economic damage worldwide. In modern medicine, quickly and accurately identifying the germs causing these diseases is crucial for timely treatment and preventing their spread. In Western countries, this job is typically done by highly trained professionals using advanced technology in well-equipped labs. However, in low to middle-income countries, the lack of these skills and equipment can lead to disastrous outcomes during outbreaks.

It's estimated that by 2050, microbial infections will be the leading cause of death globally, with a significant financial burden and associated morbidity. To improve diagnosis and treatment, especially in places with fewer resources, innovative solutions are needed for point of care testing (POCT), which means testing patients on the spot.

Innovation is required to drive forward point of care testing in microbial infections particularly in the ever-evolving medical landscape. A specific example being the use of highly effective modulator therapies (HEMT) in people with Cystic Fibrosis (pwCF) whereby production of sputum is vastly or completely reduced complicating microbial surveillance in pwCF. Novel areas in detection are being explored from medical detection dogs, analyzing compounds in breath, and finding biomarkers in other body fluids. Recent advances in lateral flow technology, clinical and patient acceptability have also paved the way for lower cost rapid testing that can be performed in the community, which may also find application in low to medium income countries.