As part of the 2010 Annual Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance, Symposium 3 brought together experts to present during a symposium titled, “Implications of Rapid Diagnostic Testing.”

Presenters for this portion of the conference included Dr. Ian Gardner, MPVM, BVSc, PhD, of the University of California (Davis, CA) and Dr. Daniel B. Jernigan, MPH, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta, GA).

Gardner presented, “Early Detection and Containment of New Antimicrobial Resistance Clones and Rapid Diagnostics in Veterinary Medicine: Challenges and Benefits.” 

He stated that 60 percent of human diseases come from zoological sources and emphasized the importance to access the clinical applicability of diagnostic testing for both animals and humans.

Gardner discussed the diversity of non-clinical applications in livestock health, citing minimal research funding for test evaluation studies using naturally-infected, contaminated samples as an underlying issue.  He emphasized the increased interest in quality standards for test evaluation by several groups, including officials and farmers.

Gardner also demonstrated the usefulness of different statistical analysis software including WinBUGS, Bayesian analysis, and T.A.G.S.

Jernigan presented, “Clinical and Public Health Implications of Rapid Diagnostic Testing for Influenza.”  During the presentation, he explained the challenges facing diagnosis of 2009’s H1N1 influenza cases early in the pandemic, reviewed the update on emerging antiviral resistance, and spoke about the benefits and limitations of available diagnostic tests for public health and clinical management.

According to Jernigan, rapid influenza antigen tests are approved for use in clinicians’ offices and were used extensively during the pandemic which made diagnosis more timely than during previous epidemics.

Read more about the conference here.

Abstracts from the Rapid Diagnostic Testing Symposium or the rest of the conference are also available here (pdf).