November 2011: Can rapid tests for infectious disease contribute to the rational use of antibiotics?

Thanks to the use of such diagnostic tests, the specialists in primary care or family physicians can have very valuable additional information that helps them in the decision to prescribe, or not to prescribe an antibiotic across various types of infectious diseases. Against this background, it seems clear that the use of such tests and generalized market will increase significantly in the coming years, especially in countries which has many rural areas and where the infrastructure is not up to the scratch, these tests are a very interesting niche market.