Sponsored – PHASE Scientific
According to several World Health Organization studies conducted over the last 10 years, antimicrobial resistance, wherein germs build up resistance to antibiotics, is a significant threat to the health and safety of patients across the world. It’s considered one of the top 10 global health threats in the world, which makes the movement for antibiotic stewardship so important.
In a recent Repertoire podcast, host Scott Adams spoke to Tommy Hall, director of sales for Lumos Diagnostics, about the importance of antibiotic stewardship and how FebriDx can play a key role. Lumos announced the distribution partnership with Phase Scientific to exclusively distribute FebriDx within the United States.
What is antibiotic stewardship?
Antibiotic stewardship is the effort to ensure antibiotics are used only when necessary, with the correct drug, dose, and duration to improve patient outcomes. Rather than prescribing antibiotics empirically, providers are increasingly focused on targeted, appropriate use to reduce unnecessary exposure.
“The World Health Organization did a study in 2023 that showed if nothing was done to tackle it, by 2050 one person could die every three seconds from antimicrobial resistance,” Hall said, adding that it could become the leading cause of death worldwide.
A deeper review of World Health Organization data revealed the seriousness of the issue. Between 2016 and 2022, annual deaths linked to antimicrobial resistance increased from 700,000 to 1.2 million.
“People started to see those statistics and understand what was happening,” Hall said. “A light was shined on antimicrobial resistance as the next great epidemic. While more progress is needed, awareness has grown around the importance of using antibiotics properly.”
How FebriDx can help
FebriDx is a rapid point-of-care diagnostic test that uses a fingerstick blood sample to aid in the diagnosis of acute respiratory infection and differentiate bacterial from non-bacterial etiology. Understanding the difference can help providers make more informed treatment plans for their patients.
With a tool like FebriDx, providers can prove to their patients that they do not need an antibiotic for a non-bacterial infection with test results after 10 minutes. “When you look at a bacterial infection versus non-bacterial infection, the symptoms overlap. That makes it difficult on physicians and facilities to be able to dial in exactly what’s going on.”
FebriDx is helping to change the conversation about the necessity of antibiotics between providers and patients, as well as providing a way to ensure that unnecessary usage of antibiotics decreases. This is a huge shift towards a greater sense of antibiotic stewardship across the healthcare continuum.
“It’s a huge focus of being great stewards when we’re prescribing antibiotics, and informed patients who understand that we don’t have to demand those antibiotics for ourselves or for our kids. We need to be smart about when we’re taking them for our long-term health and longevity.”