Health Canada approves BIOFIRE Joint Infection Panel

Health Canada has approved the BIOFIRE Joint Infection Panel to help diagnose the cause of joint infections in less than an hour. The new panel, which is from bioMérieux, allows healthcare providers to make better decisions about antibiotic therapy for people with joint infections. Joint infections cause joint impairment and disability, with 30% of hip and knee revisions thought to be due to infection. Rapidly diagnosing and promptly treating the issue is important to avoid damage to joints, but can be challenging. The infections can also be life-threatening. Read: Saskatchewan has longest waits in Canada for hip and knee replacement surgeries Septic arthritis, which is most common in young children and elderly people, is challenging to diagnose, with symptoms that are non-specific. It affects two out of every 100,000 people. “The diagnosis of joint infections in adults and children can be challenging and often requires a combination of different diagnostic modalities. The key to effective treatment and improving patient outcomes is to rapidly achieve an accurate diagnosis,” Dr. Marisa Azad of the Ottawa Hospital said in a press release. The new joint infection panel can diagnose 31 pathogens that are associated with joint infections, as well as eight antimicrobial resistance genes. It uses a synovial fluid sample taken from the affected joint. It only requires two minutes of time to prepare the sample, as the rest of the process is automated. Read: The fight against antibiotic resistance is growing more urgent, but artificial intelligence can help “This new panel addresses gaps in the diagnostic workup: prolonged turn-around-times, the problem of culture-negative results, and a lack of standardization in diagnostic criteria—particularly with periprosthetic joint infection. Molecular diagnostics in orthopedic infections is an exciting new area and the BIOFIRE JI panel has the potential to offer a more rapid diagnosis and targeted antimicrobial therapy for these patients,” said Azad. That includes detecting Kingella Kingae, which is commonly found in pediatric samples but missed in nearly two-thirds of routine cultures. “Joint Infection can have severe and long-lasting dysfunction and disabilities—conditions that can now be mitigated with rapid and accurate diagnosis and access to appropriate treatment through the novel BIOFIRE Joint Infection syndromic panel,” said Julie Émond, vice-president and general manager at bioMérieux. “It is really a game changer for pediatric patients affected by joint infection.” Read: Quebec pharma company creates generic antibiotic to help combat shortages

Health Canada approves BIOFIRE Joint Infection Panel

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