A University of Wisconsin-Madison biochemistry professor has developed a simple bacterial test that could be used to save infants’ lives in developing countries, after the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation granted him $100,000 for the project, according to a UW-Madison news release.
UW-Madison biochemistry professor Douglas Weibel’s laboratory created a cartridge test to determine if the type of bacteria in a newborn’s stomach must be treated to prevent a common, often deadly, bacterial infection that kills intestinal tissue.
Weibel said infants’ immune systems are particularly susceptible to severe bacterial infections. This risk is even greater in rural African countries such as Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, where the cartridges will be sent for trial use.
The test requires a sample from either the mother or child and produces results in 10 to 15 minutes, costing less than one dollar per cartridge.
“It doesn’t require someone that has a lot of clinical microbiology expertise,” Weibel said.
In one current method of fighting the disease, preemptive antibiotics given to a mother nearing labor can “indiscriminately destroy almost all of the bacteria in a baby’s intestines, including the helpful types,” according to Weibel.
Weibel said he also hopes to utilize wireless and smartphone technology to share sample data that could contribute to epidemiological research.
Weibel and James Ntambi, another UW-Madison biochemistry professor, along with a group of UW-Madison students, will visit Uganda in December to help test the cartridges.
