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What is Syndromic testing?

In this video Professor Manaf Alqahtani defines syndromic testing and discusses its principles, contextualising it in diagnostic stewardship.

Syndromic testing is the process of using a single test to simultaneously survey a broad range of pathogens which typically cause overlapping signs and symptoms. In this short video, Professor Manaf Alqahtani defines syndromic testing and discusses its principles, contextualising it in diagnostic stewardship.

This approach (the “syndromic approach”) is now used as standard practice in many clinical microbiology laboratories, aiding rapid identification of causative pathogens and quick, effective treatment(s) as a result.

The syndromic approach: one comprehensive syndromic test can be done on one sample (in a short amount of time), producing multiple results in one report. This results in better patient management as there is: more timely and effective treatment, limited use of unnecessary antibiotics, prevention of secondary infection spread, reduced costs of unnecessary tests and shortened hospital stays

What it means to take the syndromic approach to microbiological diagnosis, and the benefits of doing so

If you require a text version of the above image, this is available as a PDF.

As seen in the diagram above, this approach to diagnosis can also limit unnecessary antibiotic consumption and can thus support antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programmes. Additionally, syndromic testing can also detect the presence of certain bacterial resistance genes. The role of syndromic testing in AMS will be further explored in future steps this week.

The reference cited in the video has been provided as a link in the see also section below.