A review finds the biomarker cut mortality and antibiotic exposure in patients with acute respiratory infections.
Recommendations focus on public-private R&D funding, incentives, and other steps.
The fast, automated assay performs well against gold standard TB tests.
Point-of-care tests, shared decision making, and procalcitonin-guided therapy were singled out.
A review of 10 linked studies yesterday in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene indicates that introduction of rapid diagnostic tests for malaria in Africa and Afghanistan curbed use of anti-malaria drugs but was also linked to increased antibiotic prescribing.
Funds will help combat resistance, launch a TB surveillance center.
The results suggest that clinical labs should consider using an additional test to validate results.
Two companies that have received funds—Spero Therapeutics and Entasis Therapeutics—say CARB-X support has been instrumental.
"If we can eradicate the empirical use of antibiotics . . . we can achieve a lot," Zowawi says.
Incorporating antibiotic allergy testing (AAT) into an antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) program can improve antibiotic usage and appropriateness, according to a study yesterday in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
