Image: Two petri dishes with different kinds of agar plates on which bacterial cultures are growing; Copyright: panthermedia.net/photographee.eu

Topic of the Month August 2019

Antibiotic resistance: technical tricks against pathogens

An untreatable infection is a nightmare for physicians and potentially life-threatening to the patient. Unfortunately, more and more pathogens emerge that are resistant to drugs, especially antibiotics. We need to use our drugs smartly and come up with technical solutions as well to prevent our weapons from blunting in the future. Read our Topic of the Month to learn more about current and coming means to prevent and fight resistances.

Combating antibiotic resistance: One step ahead through technology

Image: A man is holding a hand full of pill blisters with antibiotics; Copyright: panthermedia.net/alexkalina

Antibiotic resistance is on the rise in all parts of the world, complicating medical treatment of serious bacterial infections in patients. The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 33,000 people die each year from antibiotic-resistant bacteria in Europe alone. Bacteria that are resistant to multiple or even all known antibiotics pose an ever-increasing threat.

Read the article about technology against resistances

Last-resort antibiotics: "We can identify carbapenemases within half an hour"

Image: A lab technician is using a pipette to fill a solution into a petri dish; Copyright: panthermedia.net/Arne Trautmann

Antibiotic resistance is modern medicine's greatest challenge. Some bacteria only respond to a handful of antibiotics, prompting hospitals to spend a lot of time finding an effective drug. That’s why it is critical for physicians to rapidly identify antibiotic resistance to avoid ineffective treatments.

Read the interview with Prof. Axel hamprecht here

Photonics: "We want a rapid and easy method to identify pathogens and antibiotic resistance"

Image: A greenly lit laboratory device; Copyright: Sven Döring

The medical devices value chain has gaps between academic research and industrial practice that slow down innovation processes. This also applies to time-sensitive and urgently needed products such as rapid diagnostic tests to identify resistant pathogens. At the InfectoGnostics Research Campus in Jena, partners from research and medicine team up to close these gaps.

Read the interview with Prof. Jürgen Popp and Prof. Mathias Pletz here

Video

Disinfection methods of hospital drinking water - Fully automatic legionella prevention

Besides hand hygiene, drinking water hygiene is also on the to-do list of every hospital. A lot of money is invested to clean water pipes and to destroy legionella germs. An alternative solution for mechanical and thermal control is water disinfection using an automatic machine. Dr. Bernhard Heising, infection specialist and hospital hygienist at Düren Hospital, Germany, describes in an interview why the hospital uses this solution and what advantages it offers.

MEDICA LABMED FORUM

The international meeting place for experts in laboratory medicine

Laboratory medicine, molecular pathology, microbiology, medical technology and life sciences are creating exciting new options with an impact on the entire healthcare market. What will happen in the laboratory of the future? How can we make diagnoses even more precise? Find out at MEDICA trade fair and MEDICA LABMED FORUM 2019 and discover everything on offer from A to Z – from innovative analyser appliances and the latest diagnostic procedures to the high-speed centrifuge.