Accelr8 collaborates with Denver Health in pneumonia study

Denver Health is receiving funding for the study as a team science award from the Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute.

Accelr8 has provided analytical instrumentation to Denver Health for other studies, and in addition to the state funding will provide supplies needed to perform bacterial resistance analysis in this most recent study. Accelr8 will also provide related technical expertise.

The purpose of the new study is to evaluate methods for substantially reducing the time to diagnosis by monitoring ventilated patients for the appearance of bacteria in the lungs, even before a patient begins to exhibit symptoms of pneumonia. The study’s investigators expect that this advanced surveillance should shorten the time required to diagnose the disease and start effective therapy.

The study will compare two surveillance methods for patients at risk for ventilator-associated pneumonia. Intensive care unit patients on mechanical ventilation will have samples taken from their lower airways on alternate days. Each patient sample will be tested by standard lab culturing, and by Accelr8’s methods for rapid identification of the organism and drug resistance types. Investigators will compare the results of the two methods when the culturing results become available.

David Howson, president of Accelr8, said: The new study will be the first of its kind to analyze multiple bacterial species and resistance types with same-day results.