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Living diagnostics

The blog that connects you with the in vitro diagnostic world.

Why participatory approaches for AMR matters to people and patient-centered action

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is a term that is not widely recognised by many people globally. What’s even more concerning is that those who are most affected by AMR—patients and their families—are often the ones who lack that awareness and rely on understanding its consequences.
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  • November 20, 2024

    Advancing Antimicrobial Stewardship in Emergency Care: how diagnostics can change the game.

    Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been identified as an increasing threat to modern medicine, leading to higher treatment costs and increased morbidity and mortality.1 The misuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics is a major contributor to the rise of AMR — particularly in emergency care, where studies have estimated that 40% to 60% of antibiotics are inappropriately prescribed.2 To understand the cause of this disparity, it is important to provide context on the many unique facets of the emergency department, while exploring how comprehensive antimicrobial stewardship could improve prescribing practices.
  • November 06, 2024

    Frederick Novy: The Search for Exact Truths in the Laboratory

    Frederick Novy had an extensive career pioneering the development of microbiology as an academic discipline and field of research, and he assisted in setting the framework for modern medical science. Before his time, microbiology was focused on disease prevention, but F.Novy made extensive strides to further the understanding of microbes at their deepest levels. Through research, discipline, and teaching, he persuaded others do to the same. “F.Novy was among the last survivors of that eager group of young American biologists and hygienists who journeyed to Europe in the 1880s to work in the laboratories of Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch and learn the fundamentals of the new science of bacteriology at first hand,” noted biographer Esmond R. Long.
  • October 23, 2024

    Global Response to the 2024 Mpox Outbreak: Need for Enhanced Diagnostics and Equitable Resource Distribution

    Fast, effective diagnostics are crucial in the identification of individuals infected with monkeypox (MPXV); a potentially fatal virus previously known as monkeypox. The outbreak was declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization (WHO) in August 2024, just two years after a similar occurrence in 2022. Many top health officials have called for a coordinated international response to curb the spread and save lives. Drawing on this experience, University of Alabama at Birmingham Professor and epidemiologist David O. Freedman, contributes insights into managing outbreaks in a post-pandemic world.
  • October 09, 2024

    UN declaration highlights key role of diagnostics in mitigating antimicrobial resistance

    Decisive action is needed to reduce the global suffering caused by AMR. That's why, on September 26, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) convened its second High-Level Meeting on AMR. The political declaration endorsed by world leaders lays out the essential actions governments must take to combat one of the most urgent global health threats and development challenges of our time. The ambitious goals set forward in the Declaration can in part be met through the increased utilization of diagnostics, enhanced surveillance, and strengthened laboratory capacity.