This spring LexaGene conducted a market research survey in conjunction with the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) to assess the opinions of practicing veterinarians on Antimicrobial resistance stewardship and the use of antibiotics in the treatment of companion animals.
Veterinarians Have an Appetite for In-Clinic Diagnostics at Point-of-Care
Veterinarians are looking for in-clinic diagnostic testing to agree with culture and sensitivity testing at least 85 percent of the time, to have confidence in the technology. When surveyed, 60 percent of respondents say they were interested in acquiring an in-clinic PCR testing instrument for antimicrobial resistance that provides results in ~ two hours. The remaining forty percent would need more information on the technology before making a purchase decision. Due to the changes with new guidelines released by the FDA1 on the prescribing of antibiotics, we expect interest to rise significantly for in-clinic PCR testing technology.
Veterinarian Attitudes toward Diagnostic Testing
Culture and sensitivity testing has been deemed as the “gold standard” for veterinary testing, however it’s not perfect. In our recent Diagnostic Diary blog2 we cover this in more depth, but the number one problem is turnaround time. The time spent waiting for results is critical when a patient is very ill. The need to treat accurately and quickly (~2 hours) at the point-of-care is appealing to veterinarians.
Veterinarian Survey Takeaways
The majority of veterinarians believe it is important (35% extremely/very important and 62% somewhat/slightly important) to receive drug resistance test results before prescribing antimicrobials. Accordingly, veterinary practices should have antimicrobial stewardship programs in place to protect the care of today’s and tomorrow’s patients. LexaGene’s MiQLab® System is a new technology that makes this possible by providing accurate information on bacterial identification and antimicrobial resistance marker detection inside the clinic within just ~2 hours. Adopting this technology gives veterinarians the high-quality diagnostics required to elevate their patient care and antimicrobial stewardship to the level of excellence that is needed for our times.
To Learn More: Download the survey report/infographic
References:
- https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/fda-track-agency-wide-program-performance/fda-track-progress-fdas-support-antimicrobial-stewardship-veterinary-settings?utm_content=206087268&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin&hss_channel=lcp-11020337
- https://lexagene.com/veterinary/bacterial-culture-is-it-time-to-rethink-the-gold-standard/
