Healthcare | Teen Ink

Healthcare

March 15, 2014
By BanditGang BRONZE, McDonough, Georgia
BanditGang BRONZE, McDonough, Georgia
2 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Doctors around the country are not sure what is causing someone's illness but prescribes antibiotics just in case. Duke University researchers are developing a blood test that can easily tell when a respiratory illness is due to a virus instead of a bacterial infection. The test works by taking a fingerprint of your immune system. This test may also help out doctors' figure out new threats, like the next flu pandemic. The test proved 89% accurate sorting out who had a virus, and who did not have it. It took twelve hours to get results;however, researchers hope to speed that up so it might be as quick as some in-office test. This is important because Unnecessary antibiotic use is one factor in the growing problem of drug-resistant germs, which the government blames for more than 23,000 deaths a year. These numbers are continuing to increase and rise across the country. This is important to society because if a dangerous new virus begins to spread, this approach could help avoid quarantining people unnecessarily by telling the right away which ones are virus-free. This is also important to society because when we go into hospitals or doctor offices, doctors could tell us if we had a virus or not in a short period of time. There are many recommendations an reactions that can be thought about. I agree with the recommendations of Duke University researchers developing a blood test to more easily tell when a respiratory illness is due to a virus and not a bactterical infection. This could greatly affect the patients that come in sick and the 23,000 deaths a year that the government blames for unnecessary antibiotic use. My reaction to this test is that doctors and researchers from all over the world should continue and put more effort into these types of things to hep of individuals over the world.



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