The study was conducted at Basingstoke Hospital, part of the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and evaluated 57 positive blood cultures from septic patients to determine the analytical performance and theoretical clinical impact of the potential early interventions. In 36 of these 57 cases, the rapid AST result led to clinical interventions, 14 of these were treatment optimizations and notable 7 infection control measures to prevent the spread of highly resistant isolates.

The authors conclude: ”The ASTar system represents an exciting innovative platform with potential for significantly decreasing the interval to antimicrobial optimisation in blood stream infections. Its impressive performance is also combined with ease-of-use and low hands-on-time for the lab technician which are benefits that are often overlooked. The demonstrable rapid clinical interventions can deliver significant benefits for individual patients and healthcare organizations in terms of quality of care, patient safety, antimicrobial stewardship and infection prevention measures.”

”Seeing ASTar’s performance in real world settings makes me truly excited about the future. In the study, not only did ASTar support optimization of treatment for most patients but it also prevented a larger outbreak of a superbug in the hospital. I think the performance and value of ASTar speak for itself and that rapid AST in the future is going to be implemented in all hospitals performing blood culture analysis”, said Jonas Jarvius, CEO of Q-linea.