REAL LIFE NEWS: BANDAGE TELLS YOU WHEN A WOUND IS INFECTED
by Hazed
Modern medicine ought to mean we don’t have to worry about infections any more – antibiotics to the rescue. But we may not be able to rely on them much longer, because bacteria are becoming resistant to the most powerful antibiotics.
One reason is that the drugs are often given to patients who have wounds, just as a precaution to try to stop any infection from developing.
Now a new type of bandage could halt this preventative prescribing. It alerts doctors when a wound has become infected, so drugs don’t have to be given until an infection is in place.
The dressing releases a fluorescent dye when it detects an infection in the wound. Doctors will see the dressing change colour and will know it’s time to prescribe.
The new dressing has been developed by researchers at the University of Bath. The team leader, Dr Toby Jenkins, came up with the idea after he visited a burns unit six years ago. He was motivated by seeing a child suffering from severe burns. The primary injuries could be treated, but there was a real risk of infection.
Traditionally, the way to tell if a wound is infected is to take a sample using a swab and then send it to a lab to be tested. Results can take one or two days, by which time it could be too late. So to be on the safe side, clinicians may prescribe antibiotics if they suspect there is an infection. In one study, 25% of patients in a burn group had been given antibiotics, but it turned out only 7% actually had an infection.
The new dressing will change colour to show an infection within 10-20 minutes of being applied. This means the infection will be detected before it has a chance to get into the bloodstream, so doctors have time to act.
So it could save lives, it could stop bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics – and it will save money. What a fantastic result.
