BacVivo is a Category HV A reuse study that aims to improve the understanding of bacterial properties in human tissues to develop new treatments for difficult-to-treat bacteria.
Aim of the study
Recurrent or chronic infections are an unresolved clinical problem despite antibiotic therapy that is appropriate for resistance. Bacteria can be in a dormant, non-growing state, thus resisting antibiotic treatment and resuming growth after therapy. This leads to recurrent infections with renewed treatment with antibiotics. In addition, all major pathogenic germs can quickly develop resistance to common antibiotics and therefore pose a major threat to human health. A precise understanding of the bacterial properties in human tissues is therefore crucial for the development of new treatment methods.
The examination of bacteria obtained directly from patients allows a more true representation of the processes in the patients and thus a better basis for the development of new treatment approaches.
Who can take part?
Patients at the University Hospital Zurich who are older than 18 years and have a diagnosed or suspected difficult-to-treat infection of the lungs, skin, urinary tract or soft tissue burns and/or are colonized with multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Streptococci spp (VRE) or multidrug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae.
Procedure
Potential study candidates are visited on the ward, informed about the study and can then decide whether or not they wish to participate. If they take part in a study, they sign an IC and optional swabs are taken inguinally, from the nose or throat (depending on the pathogen) to check whether the germ found in the BKs has also colonized other parts of the body.
In clinical examinations that are carried out as part of the treatment of the disease (e.g. blood samples, urine samples, etc.), residual material that would normally be disposed of is reused for research studies. No examinations are carried out solely as part of the study and no additional material is ever taken.
There are no additional visits after inclusion and no follow-up visits after discharge from the University Hospital Zurich.
Compensation
None
Original study name
Bacterial pathogen properties in patient samples
BASEC number
2017-02225
Financial support from