NEW YORK – Bioinformatics company Genpax estimates that healthcare systems can save considerable money while preventing infection outbreaks through microbial whole-genome sequencing. In a study published earlier this month in Microbial Genetics, the London-based company calculated that implementing a WGS surveillance strategy could prevent some 74,000 infections annually in England, saving the National Health Service approximately £480 million ($604.5 million) per year, amoun

Download the full paper below: Abstract Bacterial healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are a substantial source of global morbidity and mortality. The estimated cost associated with HAIs ranges from $35 to $45 billion in the USA alone. The costs and accessibility of whole genome sequencing (WGS) of bacteria and the lack of sufficiently accurate, high-resolution, scalable and accessible analysis for strain identification are being addressed. Thus, it is timely to determine

A recent economic modelling paper by Genpax, published in Microbial Genomics, concludes that in England, the National Health Service (NHS) could save close to £0.5bn and prevent 1200 avoidable deaths, and the US health system over $3bn and 4,800 deaths by implementing whole genome sequencing (WGS) as a tool to control bacterial healthcare-associated infections. Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are a huge economic burden to global healthcare systems. They currently cos