Infection Detection

Multi-drug-resistant staph infections have emerged as the most common skin and soft-tissue infections in the United States. If they reach the bloodstream, they can turn deadly. A new genetic test, which works on blood cultures, takes only a few hours to identify drug-resistant staph, where previous tests took days. The test kit includes reagents that detect DNA sequences characteristic of the drug-resistant and the garden-variety strains of the bacterium.

Product: GeneOhm StaphSR assay
Cost: $39.50 per test
Source: www.bd.com/geneohm/english/products/idi_mrsa.asp
Companies: BD Diagnostics