Australian-made test makes doctor’s and patient’s life “a whole lot easier”
Mycoplasma genitalium is a little-known sexually transmitted infection affecting up to two per cent of the population. A new test developed by Australian diagnostics company SpeeDx, is helping health experts to diagnose it.
“It makes the doctor’s life and the patient’s life a whole lot easier” said Professor Suzanne Garland of The Royal Women’s Hospital. “It detects the organism and gives you the susceptibility pattern to first-line drugs all in one test.” The Royal Women’s Hospital Centre for Infectious Diseases in Melbourne warns about 400,000 Australians are likely to have Mycoplasma genitalium, otherwise known as MG or MGen.
Catriona Bradshaw from the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre said about 60 per cent of cases have shown resistance to first-line treatments. “Mycoplasma genitalium is extraordinary in its propensity to develop resistance,” she said.
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