Study of Accuracy of New Diagnostic Technology to Guide Rapid Antibiotic Treatment for Serious Infections

This research will test a new ultra-rapid technology (called ID/AST Accelerate system) that uses a digital microscope to identify bacteria based on their growth patterns. This method does not have to wait for bacteria to grow in a lab. The new method can identify the type of bacteria within 2 hours of receiving a specimen. The new method also shows the effect of selected antibiotics on the bacteria including multidrug resistant bacteria so that doctors know within 6 hours from specimen collection which antibiotic kills the bacteria. To check the accuracy, speed and impact of the new method on antibiotic prescribing, investigators are proposing a study with two parts; The first part will test the accuracy and speed of the results obtained by the new method. The second part will test if having the results from the new method early would change the antibiotics prescribed to a patient in a simulation experiment. An independent infectious disease physician will be shown the results from the new method and asked if the results were accurate, would it change the antibiotic treatment for the patient.