Clarity for CNS infections with QIAstat‑Dx

"The QIAstat-Dx has provided us with 24/7 molecular testing of CSF within our laboratory.

I think the ease of use and the ability for all [lab staff] to be trained on the equipment in a really timely manner has helped with our implementation. We've shown a significant reduction in our time to result for our molecular analysis of CSF.

We've massively increased our testing, so we now test for that broad spectrum of bacterial and viral targets… so improving the service that we provide to our users as well.

The introduction of the assay has impacted on clinical care of our patients presenting with CNS infection. It gives us the ability to make those clinical decisions to stop antimicrobials or to stop the antivirals."

– Dr. Katie Hardy, PhD, Consultant Clinical Scientist Infection Control Doctor, University Hospitals of Derby, UK

"The most impactful moment for us was when we realized we could obtain a diagnosis of viral meningoencephalitis within two hours on a Saturday afternoon. Previously, these patients would have received antibiotics and stayed in the hospital for an extended period, waiting for results from a reference lab.

The ability to reduce hospital stays and target treatments based on real-time results has been a game-changer.

So, I believe hospitals should implement these panels step by step, filtering the types of samples and prioritizing cases where the panel will have the most significant impact."

– Dr. José Román Muñoz del Rey, Pharmacist Specializing in Microbiology and Parasitology, Hospital Virgen del Puerto, Spain (translated from the original Spanish)

"In the days before we had the meningitis panel, we used to outsource our CSF for HSV PCR to a Regional Lab, and the results take sometimes… one week. Some of the patients have unnecessary continuation of antivirals, just because the results are still pending.

And in that period where we were waiting for the results, some of the patients developed sacral burns because acyclovir is very caustic. And these patients, eventually the HSV PCR came back negative.

So having the CNS meningitis panel in our hospital these days helps to reduce healthcare resource utilization, and we can get back immediate results so that we know that it's not there. We can take off the antibiotics or antivirals faster, and this can reduce the time of hospitalization for the patient."

– Dr. David Ng Chee Hsiong, MBBS, MMed, Member of the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health; Pediatrician, Raffles Children's Centre, Singapore