CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — When you head to the doctor's office, some of our local clinics now have a special test that can tell if you have a viral or bacterial infection in just 15 minutes.
Physician's Premier in Calallen showed 3NEWS its system called the Biofire Spotfire. Dr. Matthew Cross with the emergency room said it’s a real medical game changer.
"Well, yeah, this is great for this area I mean, we're up there with Johns Hopkins and Texas Children's Hospital of having the same test they do," he said. "And it's just because we are trying to be at the forefront of, of treatment and diagnosing our patients."
Cross said the Spotfire is a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing system where you just take a nasal swab sample and in 15 minutes it gives you the answer.
But what if the test is negative and Cross still believes you may be suffering from some kind of infection?
Well, Physician's Premier Emergency Room - Calallen has the only blood testing equipment in the area which can also help the doctor answer that question in minutes. It’s called MeMed.
"This other test is the MeMed test and it quickly gives you a score of 0 to 30 or 66 to 100, and it lets you know if it's most likely viral or bacterial based on your immune system's response," Cross said. "So, it's another great test that lasts about 10 minutes and we can direct your treatment appropriately.”
He told 3NEWS the two tests can give him the information he needs to make a better decision on treatment, explaining that he doesn’t want to prescribe someone antibiotics when they don’t need them. Cross said at least 55,000 Americans die each year because of antibiotic resistant infections.