A NEW early-results test for meningitis has been developed by medical researchers at Queen’s University and the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust.
Trials of the rapid diagnostic test for meningococcal bacteria have begun at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, but it is not known when the test device can go into production.
Scientists from Queen’s centre for infection and immunity and the Belfast Health Trust believe it can produce reliable test results within an hour.
The bedside test is also cheap, easy to use and does not require specialist staff.
The speed of the new test is a vital factor in the treatment of young children with meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia, who become very ill rapidly.
“The first symptoms of meningococcal infections are the same as a simple viral infection, making it difficult to diagnose in the early stages,” said Prof Mike Shields of Queen’s and the Belfast Health Trust.
“Parents often use the ‘tumbler test’ on their children’s bodies, but the non-blanching rash that is associated with a positive outcome of this test is a late sign and is not always present in children who have meningitis.”
He said doctors currently admit and treat with antibiotics any child that they suspect of having meningococcal disease while they await the traditional test results that take between 24 and 48 hours.
“Some children are not diagnosed in the early stages, while others are admitted and treated ‘just in case’ when they don’t actually have the disease.
“With the development of a small piece of equipment, which resembles a portable home printer, a sample of blood or a secretion such as saliva can be tested quickly by the machine.
“This produces a colour reading that determines if the patient has meningitis or not.”
Prof Shields added: “There is no other rapid test that can confirm the diagnosis in such a short time. The current tests are expensive and take up to two days to obtain.
The new test is very different to standard procedures which use “culture-based” detection methods for meningitis.
“In recent years molecular diagnostic tests that use the DNA fingerprint from ‘bugs’ for diagnosis, have been developed,” Prof Shields said.
“But they still require the specimen sample to be transported to the laboratory and it takes a considerable time to get the result back to the doctor. This means that doctors have to make clinical decisions before results are available.”
The new test uses a molecular method to detect genes that are common to all strains of the meningococcus.
“The real advantage of the new test is that it has the potential to be a simple bedside test that is rapid, cheap, easy to use and doesn’t require laboratory-trained staff,” said Prof Shields.
About 1,500 laboratory-confirmed cases of meningococcal disease occur in the UK each year. However, the actual numbers could be higher.