A new blood test that can diagnose the infection by the fungus type Candida in only a few hours was developed by Greek and American scientists in the US. The new diagnostic procedure can shorten considerably the time needed for doctors to detect the infections of this organism which are very common, Candidemia being the fourth most common bloodstream infection.
Professor of Medicine Eleftherios Mylonakis, chief at the Infectious Diseases Division of Brown University, Theodora Anagnostou of Brown University, and Thomas J. Lowery of T2 Biosystems, head of the study authors, published the news of the discovery in the medical magazine Science Translational Medicine. In the press release the discovery was described as “a breakthrough approach to rapid detection of candida species from the whole blood with T2 magnetic resonance demonstrated in first patient samples”.
“The rapid detection of Candida is of critical need within the healthcare community, where time is of the essence to enable life-saving treatment decisions,” Mylonakis told Science Translational Medicine, MD Dean’s Professor of Medicine, Chief, Infectious Disease Division, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, and investigator in this study. “Studies have shown that each hour of delayed treatment increases the mortality of sepsis in patients significantly, by up to 8% or more. This research outlines how T2 magnetic resonance can revolutionize the field, with great implications on mortality rates and healthcare costs.”
Professor Eleftherios Mylonakis studied at the Faculty of Medicine of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens where he completed his PhD studies in 1994. After working at Evaggelismos Hospital in Athens he went to the US to continue his career, where among others he taught at the Medical School of Harvard University until 2012.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
