Bruno Larida, Vice President, Marketing, Seegene Technologies10.07.21
When it comes to healthcare, numerous complexities and barriers play a role in individuals receiving adequate testing and treatment. Race, cost, geographic location, transportation, education, and time are common factors that often impact a person’s access to care. For the past year and a half, the COVID-19 pandemic has amplified these disparities, further alienating people of color and underserved patient communities.
Services and diagnostics including multiplex testing, or multiplexing, have recently come to the fore as a care option for individuals who may otherwise have limited access. Multiplexing allows for the testing of multiple viral pathogens by using the same specimen sample and testing instrument. In many cases, multiplex testing can help clinicians to delineate between pathogens that may present with similar signs and symptoms.
By reducing the number of tests performed, multiplexing can help reduce a patient’s time-to-diagnosis, helping them find an effective treatment plan sooner. But it’s not just for patients with a suspected infection: Multiplex technology holds promise across many applications, including screening healthy individuals for early signs of cancer. Below are just some of the many benefits.
With the ability to test various samples at once, and test them repeatedly, multiplexing eliminates the need for numerous samples to be taken from individuals and cuts down on the number of tests distributed. These two factors can be major deterrents when it comes to individuals seeking care, as they take up a significant amount of time, money, and numerous trips to a testing facility.
Lessening the burden for patients can improve care well beyond infectious diseases. According to UT Southwestern Medical Center, individuals under 40 with cancer who are Hispanic, Black, live in underserved communities, or lack health insurance have a higher mortality rate than others. With the ability to screen for various cancers in one test, multiplexing tests in development could help diagnose cancer earlier with fewer medical visits.
By taking a multiplex test, any patient can get objective results – whether or not that virus was on their radar.
In this instance, multiplexing may be used to eliminate or diagnose a specific illness and determine what medications, if any, are needed to treat the patient.
Bruno Larida is the vice president, Marketing, for Seegene Technologies.
Services and diagnostics including multiplex testing, or multiplexing, have recently come to the fore as a care option for individuals who may otherwise have limited access. Multiplexing allows for the testing of multiple viral pathogens by using the same specimen sample and testing instrument. In many cases, multiplex testing can help clinicians to delineate between pathogens that may present with similar signs and symptoms.
By reducing the number of tests performed, multiplexing can help reduce a patient’s time-to-diagnosis, helping them find an effective treatment plan sooner. But it’s not just for patients with a suspected infection: Multiplex technology holds promise across many applications, including screening healthy individuals for early signs of cancer. Below are just some of the many benefits.
1. Increasing Access
For many, an inability to travel multiple times to and from clinics, testing facilities, and hospitals plays a large part in not receiving proper care. A recent study from Epic Health Research Network identified significant barriers for people of color compared to white people when it comes to testing for SARS-CoV-2. Factors such as a lack of time or access to transportation often cause delays in testing, resulting in patients waiting longer to get tested. By the time the results come in, the patient’s disease may have worsened. In the case of COVID-19, they may have unknowingly spread the virus to others in their circle.With the ability to test various samples at once, and test them repeatedly, multiplexing eliminates the need for numerous samples to be taken from individuals and cuts down on the number of tests distributed. These two factors can be major deterrents when it comes to individuals seeking care, as they take up a significant amount of time, money, and numerous trips to a testing facility.
Lessening the burden for patients can improve care well beyond infectious diseases. According to UT Southwestern Medical Center, individuals under 40 with cancer who are Hispanic, Black, live in underserved communities, or lack health insurance have a higher mortality rate than others. With the ability to screen for various cancers in one test, multiplexing tests in development could help diagnose cancer earlier with fewer medical visits.
2. Reducing Bias
The beauty of multiplex testing is that it allows clinicians to cast a wider net with their diagnostic inquiries. This can help overcome a bias amongst patients (and sometimes clinicians) who have a preconceived notion of what’s driving their illness. This is often the case with infectious diseases. An individual may assume they’re positive for a specific virus, but many pathogens have overlapping symptoms. For example, COVID-19 can trigger similar symptoms to that of different strains of influenza or respiratory syncytial viruses (RSVs).By taking a multiplex test, any patient can get objective results – whether or not that virus was on their radar.
3. Improving Antibiotic Stewardship
Multiplexing tests for pathogens also holds promise to curb the overuse of antibiotics. In a study by the CDC, researchers found that one in three antibiotic prescriptions are unnecessary. The study reported that antibiotics were prescribed unnecessarily for virus-related respiratory illnesses like the common cold, bronchitis, and sinus infections – illnesses long-known to not respond to antibiotics. The overuse of antibiotics is harmful to patients and can cause serious health complications, specifically in individuals with comorbidities that are more prevalent in disadvantaged populations.In this instance, multiplexing may be used to eliminate or diagnose a specific illness and determine what medications, if any, are needed to treat the patient.
4. Multiplying the Benefits
Multiplex testing is already a powerful resource for the healthcare industry – but it’s just getting started. By reducing the barriers associated both with individual healthcare and the ongoing surveillance of diseases, multiplexed testing can benefit society on many levels. In the future, these diagnostics will allow us to cast a wider net, delivering definitive answers for conditions instead of an endless process of exclusion.Bruno Larida is the vice president, Marketing, for Seegene Technologies.