Tackling a Global Killer – C. Difficile
At the top of the CDC’s urgent threat category is the pathogen, Clostridium difficile (C. difficile). the pathogen causes 29,000 deaths per year, more than Leukemia and Parkinson Disease and nearly half a million life-threatening infections. This devastating gastrointestinal infection degrades the wall of the colon and can lead to organ failure and death. What…
Transforming Targeted Antibiotic Therapy for Improved Patient Outcomes.
Overuse of antibiotics has created new risks for patients through an ever-increasing number of multi-drug-resistant strains of bacteria. According to the CDC, Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest public health challenges of our time. Each year in the U.S., at least 2 million people get an antibiotic-resistant infection, and at least 100,000 people die…
The Right Antibiotic at the Right Time Saves Money as Well as Lives
First Light Diagnostics’ rapid tests can identify the most effective antibiotics to cure infections in hours, rather than the days required by current tests. Administering the right antibiotic close to the onset of infection can not only save lives but can also dramatically lower healthcare costs. This is especially important today because many life-threatening infections…
Rapid Testing to Reduce the Spread of Antibiotic Resistance and to Improve Antibiotic Stewardship
The epidemic of life-threatening infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria is fueling a global healthcare crisis. The problem is fueled by today’s slow diagnostic testing that leads to overuse of powerful resistance-inducing broad-spectrum antibiotics. First Light Diagnostic’s rapid tests can rapidly determine, at the onset of infection, whether a patient is infected and, if so, which…
A Robust New Paradigm for Rapidly Determining Antibiotic Susceptibility.
I founded First Light Diagnostics because of concern for two major problems in healthcare: the rise of superbugs resistant to most antibiotics and the epidemic of deadly hospital acquired infections. What is driving the crisis in antibiotic resistance is the fact that antibiotics are extensively overused – they are frequently prescribed when they are not…
Rapid, Ultra-Sensitive Test for Clostridium Difficile Infection
According to a 2015 CDC study(1), Clostridium difficile causes more than 500,000 infections per year in the United States alone. Approximately 29,000 patients die within 30 days of initial C. difficile diagnosis. Of those, an estimated 15,000 deaths were directly attributable to CDI, making it the most deadly hospital infection and topping the CDC’s “urgent” threat…