Groundbreaking new test that diagnoses cause of fatal sepsis in HOURS, not days, being rolled out across the NHS

Health
By Liam
  • The technology has already been trialled at St Thomas’ Hospital in London
  • It could be used in GP practices and community services within five years

By Emily Stearn, health reporter for Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

A life-saving test that can identify the cause of sepsis within hours is to be rolled out further across the NHS.

Currently, it can take doctors several days to definitively determine which bug caused sepsis: the immune system’s violent response to an infection.

But the new test, trialled at London’s Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, cuts the arduous process to less than seven hours.

It avoids the need for microbiologists to painstakingly grow samples from sick patients in petri dishes to find out exactly what is causing their illness.

Instead, the advanced test can pinpoint which microorganisms are to blame by looking at genetic information lurking in a sample.

Medics also hope the technology, which has already been trialled at St Thomas’ Hospital in London, will reduce the time patients spend in hospital so they get the right treatment faster.

WHAT IS SEPSIS?

Sepsis occurs when the body responds to an infection by attacking its own organs and tissues.

Around 44,000 people die from sepsis in Britain every year. Worldwide, someone dies from the condition every 3.5 seconds.

Sepsis has similar symptoms to flu, gastroenteritis and a respiratory infection.

These include:

  • Sslurred speech or confusion
  • Eextreme chills or muscle pain
  • Pnot peeing urine one day
  • Salways shortness of breath
  • IIt feels like you’re dying
  • Srelatives spotted or discolored

Symptoms in children include:

  • Rapid breathing
  • Seizures or convulsions
  • Mottled, bluish or pale skin
  • Skin rash that does not fade when pressed
  • Lethargy
  • Feeling abnormally cold

Children under the age of five may repeatedly vomit, not eat, or not urinate for 12 hours.

Anyone can get sepsis, but it is most common in people who have recently had surgery, have a urinary catheter, or have been in the hospital for a long time.

Other risk groups include people with weak immune systems, chemotherapy patients, pregnant women, the elderly and the very young.

Treatment varies depending on the site of the infection, but includes antibiotics, IV fluids, and oxygen if necessary.

Source: British Sepsis Trust And NHS choices

Experts hope the technology will ensure that sick patients are treated faster, potentially saving lives.

Professor Ian Abbs, CEO of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, said: ‘The faster you can get to a diagnosis, the better the outcomes for patients – and that time is measured in minutes, not days.

“Historically, we would try to fish with a rod and pick up one insect.

‘We now fish with a huge net and can therefore pick up everything within the patient, but we now use the combination of biology and data analysis, the combination of digital biology, to bring us to a much faster diagnosis within a few hours.

‘And hours save lives.

‘We need to bring this new life-saving technology to patients in the NHS.’

For a patient with sepsis, every hour of incorrect treatment increases the chance of death by two percent, he said.

Sepsis, nicknamed the ‘silent killer’ because it is extremely difficult to spot, kills almost 50,000 Britons every year.

It occurs when the body’s immune system goes into overdrive, causing a series of reactions that can lead to organ failure.

The intention is that suspected patients are given antibiotics within an hour of arriving at the hospital.

Bacterial infections are usually to blame, but viruses such as Covid and flu – which antibiotics do not work against – can also lead to sepsis.

The test could be used within five years to test people in GP practices and other community services.

Ten additional hospitals across England will pilot the test over the next two years, thanks to £3 million in funding from NHS England and the Department of Science Innovation and Technology.

The technology was also used in the monkeypox outbreak in early 2022, which affected more than 3,500 Britons, to identify which patients with rashes needed to be isolated and which could be sent home.

Dr. Meera Chand, Deputy Director at UKHSA, said: ‘Metagenomics gives us the power to identify new and unexpected threats to infectious diseases and monitor the full diversity of pathogens.

‘We are working closely with the NHS and other partners to integrate metagenomic data into our surveillance and maximize its potential for public health and biosecurity.’

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