FLEXIBLE DIAGNOSTIC ASSISTANT

tics are often used in treating viral infections such as com- mon colds. To date accurate diagnosis has only been possible by taking a nose or throat swab from the patient and sending it to a central laboratory, with the results taking several days to arrive and generating costs. Consequently, in the absence of a clear diagnosis, doctors often prefer to play safe by pre- scribing antibiotics. However, not only are these drugs inef- fec- tive in combating viral infections, but their overuse also can lead to antibiotic resistance, a phenomenon causing 25,000 deaths each year in Europe and placing a 1.5 billion euro burden on the health system.

ntibiotics are often prescribed for oral and respiratory infections even when diagnosis is uncertain. Although only effective in fighting bacterial infections, antibio-

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TOGETHER WITH RESEARCH TEAMS FROM ACROSS EUROPE, AIT IS DEVELOPING A MOBILE DEVICE TO RELIABLY DIAGNOSE ORAL AND RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS.

Molecular diagnostic methods enable the fast diagnosis of oral and respiratory infections, helping to prevent antibiotic resistance.

DIAGORAS: A LARGE-SCALE EUROPEAN PROJECT

DIAGORAS

The DIAGORAS project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innova- tion programme under grant agreement No 633780. The programme provides 80 billion euros in funding to take developments relevant to society from the la- boratories to the market and thus strengthen Euro- pe’s competitiveness.

Project volume

5.5 million euros

Duration

four years, started on 1 June 2015

Cooperation of

nine project partners from seven EU countries

Project coordinator

Hahn-Schickard Freiburg, Germany

AIT contribution

Development of tests for the detection of bacteria, viruses and antibiotic resistance genes, including subsequent system integration.