A new rapid urine test can identify the correct antibiotic for urinary tract infections (UTIs) in less than six hours, reducing the standard two-to-three-day wait for laboratory results.
Research from the University of Reading, the University of Southampton, and Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust shows the method identifies effective treatments in an average of 5.85 hours. The study, published in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, evaluated 352 urine samples from patients with suspected UTIs and found the rapid test agreed with reference methods in 96.95% of cases for seven first-line antibiotics.
Direct-from-Urine Testing Process
The testing process bypasses the traditional overnight culture step. It uses a cartridge of fine tubes pre-loaded with different antibiotics that is…