Clinically relevant respiratory tract infections caused by dozens of respiratory viral and bacterial pathogens commonly occur in symptomatic adults and pediatric patients. In order to guide effective treatment strategies and control spreading of the disease, clinicians have to know which pathogens are present at the early stage of infection. Traditional methods are slow, inconclusive, and inaccurate. Many clinicians either send patients home without treatment or prescribe antibiotics without knowing with certainty which pathogens are present.
Our Multiplex real-time PCR method can detect both viral and bacterial pathogens simultaneously, accurately determining the source of infection with high sensitivity and reliability to improve individual patient care and prevent misuse of antibiotics.
