FDA Approves New MRSA Test

MIAMI (CBSMiami.com) – Doctors in hospitals across South Florida and the rest of the country now have a new test that can quickly show if a staph infection is methicillin-resistant.

The FDA approved a new test that will cut the time from 2 days to five hours to determine if a patient has an infection caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA.

The bacterium is one of the top causes of infections in hospitals and is typically resistant to most antibiotics.

The test was proven to correctly identify the disease in blood samples that had MRSA 98.9 percent of the time.

The FDA said the new test will give hospitals and doctors a new tool to help them optimize treatment to fight the correct disease, and prevent wasting time on medications that won't help stop the bacterium.