New blood test by GPs to reduce use of antibiotics
SCHEME IS FIRST IN GREATER MANCHESTER LAUNCHED AMID FEARS OVER-PRESCRIBING OF THE MEDICINE WILL STOP IT WORKING
BLOOD tests to determine if patients really need antibiotics are being introduced at doctors’ surgeries for the first time in Greater Manchester.
It comes following a stark warning by England’s chief medical officer of a ‘post-antibiotic apocalypse’ due to antibiotic resistance.
Professor Dame Sally Davies said she feared the ‘end of modern medicine’ should antibiotics lose their effectiveness and has urged global leaders to address the ‘growing threat.’
Seven GP practices in Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale have been testing the new scheme for 12 months.
Now it is being rolled out across surgeries within the Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Clinical Commissioning Group - with 28 practices taking part.
It is the first health trust in Greater Manchester to offer the test to patients and more GP surgeries are expected to get on board as winter approaches.
Patients presenting with respiratory infections like chesty coughs and colds are given simple fingerprick blood tests.
Results are available within minutes and can help doctors determine whether a patient’s infection is caused by bacteria that needs treatment with antibiotics, or if the infection is caused by a virus which won’t respond to antibiotics.
The blood tests assess levels of C-reactive Protein (CRP) - a biological indicator of bacterial infection.
Dr Keith Pearson, head of medicines optimisation at the trust, said figures show 5,000 deaths are caused every year because antibiotics no longer work for certain infections – 13 people every day and said antibiotic resistance must be ‘slowed.’
“Taking antibiotics when you don’t need them means they are less likely to work for you in the future and I’d urge local people to trust their doctor’s advice regarding the best appropriate treatment for their ailments this winter,” he said.
“CRP testing helps ensure antibiotics are prescribed for those patients who really need them and we are proud to be leading the way on this in Greater Manchester and offering the test to our local population. “Antibiotics can help to treat serious bacterial infections such as pneumonia, meningococcal meningitis and sepsis and they are used to keep infection at bay during chemotherapy, caesarean sections and other surgery. “Antibiotics are not effective against viral infections like most colds and flu, and most sore throats or ear infections.” Professor Davies has said that without drugs used to fight infections, medical interventions like caesarean sections, cancer treatments and hip replacements would become incredibly ‘risky.’ And she said transplant medicine would be a ‘thing of the past,’ In recent years, the UK has led a drive to raise awareness of the threat posed to modern medicine by antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Around 700,000 people around the world die annually due to drug-resistant infections including tuberculosis (TB), HIV and malaria. Dr Keith