New test could cut wait times for UTI diagnosis

Patients with urinary tract infections (UTIs) could be diagnosed within hours rather than days thanks to a new test, researchers have said.

The group of researchers from University of Reading, University of Southampton and Hampshire Hospitals NHS Trust, said a new test taken on urine can show doctors which antibiotic could help patients in just under six hours.

Current standard laboratory testing takes two to three days.

Dr Oliver Hancox, chief executive officer of Astratus Limited, the University of Reading spin-out company, said: "By the time the laboratory delivers the result under current methods, a patient may already have finished their antibiotics or been given ones that do not work."

He said being able to tell a doctor the same day which antibiotic to use means patients would get the "right treatment sooner, reducing the risk of resistance developing and their infection turning into potentially lethal sepsis".

UTIs are more common in women than in men. The NHS estimates half of all women in the UK will have a UTI at least once in their life.

The new test uses a cartridge of fine tubes, each pre-loaded with different antibiotics, which is dipped directly into the urine sample and loaded into an instrument.

Optical imaging is then used to track if bacterial growth is detected or not in each tube.

If growth is blocked, that antibiotic works against the infection. If bacteria continues to grow, it does not. That will tell doctors which drug to prescribe.

As part of the research, hundreds of urine samples were used to assess the overall accuracy of direct-from-urine testing.

Prof Matthew Inada-Kim, a consultant acute physician at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Trust and researcher at the University of Southampton, said: "UTIs are a common reason that patients need antibiotics and getting the right treatment first time could be a lifesaver.

"A test that works on samples we already collect as standard, and gives us answers the same day, is exactly the kind of tool that could change how we manage these infections in practice."