DTMT Network
MUMBAI: Metropolis Healthcare Ltd, the leading pan-India ‘pathology specialist’, has announced the launch of its Pneumonia Panel across its labs in India. The main objective of the launch is to provide quick and accurate tests of pneumonia.

Dr Niranjan Patil, Head, Microbiology, Metropolis Healthcare, said, “At Metropolis, we have launched Pneumonia Panel. It is equipped to deliver accurate pathogen identification in about two hours.”

Dr Patil said, “Pneumonia Panel will have potential impact on modifications to antimicrobial therapy for respiratory pathogens in sputum, endotracheal aspirates, broncholoalveolar lavage (BAL), miniBAL specimens.

“Our panel will enable the physicians to put patients on appropriate therapy quickly,” he added.

Early, rapid and accurate identification of bacterial and viral fungal organisms is crucial towards selection of the appropriate antimicrobial treatment and patient management. However, existing traditional detection methods are slow. The Pneumonia Panel of Metropolis Healthcare will help address these issues.

The Pneumonia Panel looks for 18 bacteria (11 Gram negative, 4 Gram positive and 3 atypical bacteria), 7 antibiotic resistance genetic markers and 9 viruses that cause pneumonia and other lower respiratory tract infections. For 15 of the 18 bacteria, the Pneumonia Panel provides semi-quantitative results, which may help determine whether an organism is a colonizer or a pathogen.

As compared to conventional methods, use of the lower respiratory Pneumonia Panel might lead to increased rates of antimicrobial therapy optimization with low risk for inappropriate therapy at much faster turnaround times.