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Article: Cambridge, Mass., Company Has Hopes for Test to Detect Infant Blood Infection.(Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
- Article date:
- September 20, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Sep. 20--Each year, hundreds of thousands of newborns are whisked off to neonatal intensive care units where they are attached to intravenous tubes that deliver antibiotics to fight off a potentially deadly infection known as sepsis.
Doctors don't know if the infants actually have the blood infection because there is no fast, sure-fire way to diagnose it. In fact, most of the infants probably don't have sepsis but do have a fever or other symptoms. Still, doctors treat the babies because waiting even just a few hours might kill them.
The price of treatment, however, is also high. Doctors and researchers estimate that more than $800 million a year is ...