How fast antimicrobial susceptibility testing could impact sepsis management

Bloodstream infections (BSIs) remain a significant public health challenge. Today, antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) is the gold standard for guiding therapy in BSI management. However, conventional AST methods are often slow, taking days to deliver results. This delay forces clinicians to prescribe empiric, broad-spectrum antimicrobials, a practice that contributes to the overuse and misuse of antimicrobials – a leading driver of antimicrobial resistance.

In this article, bioMérieux delves into the benefits of fast AST and explores why it has the potential to bridge the critical gap in BSI and sepsis management.