New study discovers way to make medical devices pathogen-free

Researchers may have found a way to detect and get rid of pathogens that can become dangerous when it gets on medical devices, like catheters, which are implanted in the body. The study's findings were originally published in the American Chemical Society journal.

A team of microbiologists, immunologists and engineers came together for the study. Dr Simon Corrie from Monash University's Department of Chemical Engineering and Professor Ana Traven from the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) led the research.

Pathogens like Candida Albicans are often found in people that are generally healthy. It can become especially dangerous for those who are sick or have a loss of immune function. When the microbe colonises a medical device, it can infect internal organs by spreading through the bloodstream.

"The mortality rate in some patient populations can be as high as 30 to 40 per cent even if you treat people. When it colonises, it is highly resistant to anti-fungal treatments," Professor Traven told a news portal. Adding, "The idea is that if you can diagnose this infection early, then you can have a much bigger chance of treating it successfully with current anti-fungal drugs and stopping a full-blown systemic infection, but our current diagnostic methods are lacking. A biosensor to detect early stages of colonisation would be highly beneficial."

A 2017 study, published in the journal mSphere, found very high levels of a pathogen are a big reason for the tick-borne disease. Researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health developed a test that can check for tick-borne pathogens. "This new test can strengthen surveillance for tick-borne illnesses which are underreported and growing rapidly," W. Ian Lipkin, director of CII and John Snow Professor of Epidemiology at the Mailman School, told a news portal.

Learning more about pathogens is crucial for public health across the globe. "Ticks and natural hosts are commonly co-infected in nature, so understanding how these pathogens may influence each other's abundance and distribution is key for public health,"Professor Maria Diuk-Wasse from Columbia University told a news portal.



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