German researchers are working on a tissue that will tell you whether you've got the flu

The Lab in a Hankie - How it works:

The lab in a hankie works a bit like a pregnancy test – the kind you can buy at the pharmacy - only it's a little more complicated. Within the structure of the handkerchief, antibody-like molecules are bound to a polymer. If several of these molecules bind to a virus, the polymer automatically changes its structure. Or, as the researchers put it, the polymer "collapses." The collapse generates a signal, such as a reaction in the material of the tissue, to produce a color.

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I think this is a fantastic idea.

Its use may lower the overuse of antibiotics by clearly distinguishing between viral and bacterial infections in real time. A lot of patients come to their doctors looking for antibiotics even when their conditions do not warrant them - & doctors continue to over-prescribe antibiotics. This should help doctors to resist the urge to over prescribe.

"Every year, tens of millions of prescriptions for antibiotics are written to treat viral illnesses for which these antibiotics offer no benefits," says David Bell, M.D., the CDC's antimicrobial resistance coordinator.

According to the CDC, antibiotic prescribing in outpatient settings could be reduced by more than 30 percent without adversely affecting patient health.

Reasons cited by doctors for overprescribing antibiotics include diagnostic uncertainty, time pressure on physicians, and patient demand. Physicians are pressured by patients to prescribe antibiotics, says Bell. "People don't want to miss work, or they have a sick child who kept the whole family up all night, and they're willing to try anything that might work."

It may be easier for the physician pressed for time to write a prescription for an antibiotic than it is to explain why it might be better not to use one.

FDA


Following on from developing flu-detection technologies - will be a host of other useful materials -

Detecting the presence of: Salmonella, Campylobacter bacteria & MRSA etc. with a wipe.

The researchers say they are developing materials that will detect flu viruses, Salmonella and Campylobacter bacteria, which causes diarrhea. They also hope to include MRSA, the antibiotic-resistant pathogen which is responsible for many deaths in hospitals.

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I am guessing that once you start wiping down surfaces, be they in your home or in public, the world will become a little more frightening And if you are already predisposed to fear the microscopic, this may shove you over the edge.

Public phones, public toilets, park benches, restaurant cutlery ....... you may of always suspected they were dirty but now you can know which exact pathogens are lurking.

Genius idea

I suspect that up to 80% of people who claim to get the flu each year just have a heavy cold.

Originally posted by PhoenixOD
Genius idea

I suspect that up to 80% of people who claim to get the flu each year just have a heavy cold.

This new simple test will embolden doctors to refuse antibiotics when they are not required and should help patients accept his/her decision.

The possibilities are endless.

My only worry is that in the end people may feel that ignorance was bliss.

I am sure that as I type on my grimy keyboard I am surrounded by a cornucopia of viral and bacterial agents.

Will this make everybody clean-freaks ? Will anti-bacterial cleaning agents become more popular - which in turn may increase microbial resistance -

Originally posted by PhoenixOD
Genius idea

I suspect that up to 80% of people who claim to get the flu each year just have a heavy cold.

Actually, data suggests that most people have mild food poisoning when they believe to have the flu. Yet, they fail to put two and two together.

voices.yahoo.com...

The whole idea that there is a "stomach flu" as opposed to the influenza virus causing flu, is wrong...

www.sfgate.com...

Most children now days live in glass bowls, and get sick easy.
Youngsters need to eat dirt in order to survive and grow up healthy.

Originally posted by boncho

Originally posted by PhoenixOD
Genius idea

I suspect that up to 80% of people who claim to get the flu each year just have a heavy cold.

Actually, data suggests that most people have mild food poisoning when they believe to have the flu. Yet, they fail to put two and two together.

voices.yahoo.com...

The whole idea that there is a "stomach flu" as opposed to the influenza virus causing flu, is wrong...

www.sfgate.com...

Those articles you linked were very informative. I must admit I am guilty of lumping everything into the flu/cold category.

If I had greater feedback, such as those provided by these diagnostic materials, it would certainly change my behaviour.

Originally posted by mikepopy
Most children now days live in glass bowls, and get sick easy.
Youngsters need to eat dirt in order to survive and grow up healthy.

Almost goes along a debate when the first mass use of the alcohol gels went into marketing. Are the gems really helpful or are they harmful?

Kids, and adults, need to experience the world as is. Unless you are genetically prone to disease, a good dose of germs keeps your immune system in check.

If you don't use it, you lose it right? Same goes for your bodies ability to fight crap.

Heck, there was even a study done on eating your snot and the benefit it had on your immune system. Won't post a link, it was on Yahoo...they also posted a study that eggs & coffee are bad again.

As for this flu tissue, it would help many doctors in informing their patients that antibiotics won't help, you'll have to tough it out speech. My wife till this day, thinks that meds from a doctor will lessen a cold/flu.

On the flip side, it'll help parents inform ignorant doctors that their kid doesn't have the flu. Know of many situations when the doc assumed it was the flu...turned out to be pneumonia.

This will be a 'win-win.'