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Pros and cons of carbapenemase detection tests

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Anne Ford

March 2018—When it comes to diagnostic tests, everyone wants the same thing Lars Westblade, PhD, wants: A unicorn.

“The diagnostic performance of a test is reflected in its sensitivity and specificity,” Dr. Westblade said. “It has to be a very good test. And then we need to think about the speed of the test.” There’s also the cost. When all these factors come together just so, “we get what’s called diagnostic perfection,” he says, or the rare event that Brandi Limbago, PhD, of the CDC calls “a diagnostic unicorn.”

When it comes to diagnostic tests, everyone wants the same thing Lars Westblade, PhD, wants: A unicorn.

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