Respiratory illnesses: A growing opportunity for stewardship

 By Anooj Shah, PharmD, MBA, BCIDP; Marti Juanola Falgarona, PhD 

 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Upon completion of this article, the reader will be able to:

  1. Discuss the challenges that the healthcare industry faces with respiratory illness diagnosis. 
  2. Define syndromic testing and describe its benefits. 
  3. Describe the benefits of multiplex PCR testing and its utility in diagnosing respiratory illnesses. 
  4. Describe how diagnostic and antimicrobial stewardship work to improve antimicrobial resistance.

About the Authors

Anooj Shah PharmD, MBA, BCIDP is a Medical Science Liaison – Infectious Diseases for QIAGEN North America. A 2018 graduate of Concordia University, Wisconsin, Shah holds his Doctor of Pharmacy and his MBA. He completed two years of post-graduate residency training at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, specializing in infectious diseases. Prior to joining QIAGEN in 2022, Shah served as a clinical pharmacist focusing on infectious diseases and antimicrobial stewardship.

Marti Juanola Falgarona, PhD is associate director of Medical Affairs – Infectious Disease for QIAGEN with a focus on syndromic testing and the QIAstat-Dx platform. Juanola-Falgarona completed his PhD in 2014 at University Rovira I Virgily, Catalonia, Spain. Prior to joining QIAGEN, Juanola-Falgarona did his Post-Doc at the University of Columbia in New York. During his years in Academia, Juanola-Falgarona has published 21 peer-reviewed publications and several book chapters.

Photo credit: sorbetto/ DigitalVision Vectors/Gettyimages ID 137670913 © Tartilastock|Dreamstime.com 

Not Enrolled

Course Includes

  • 1 Article
  • 1 Test
  • Course Certificate
  • MLO and Northern Illinois University (NIU), DeKalb, IL, are co-sponsors in offering continuing education units (CEUs) for this issue’s CE article. CEUs or contact hours are granted by the College of Health and Human Sciences at Northern Illinois University, which has been approved as a provider of continuing education programs in the clinical laboratory sciences by the ASCLS P.A.C.E.® program. Continuing education credits awarded for successful completion of this test are acceptable for the ASCP Board of Registry Continuing Competence Recognition Program. Readers who pass the test successfully (scoring 70% or higher) will receive a certificate for 1 contact hour of P.A.C.E.® credit. The fee for this continuing education test is $20. This test was prepared by Amanda Voelker, MPH, MT(ASCP), MLS, Clinical Education Coordinator, School of Health Studies, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL.

    Level of Instruction:
    Passing scores of 70 percent or higher are eligible for contact hour of P.A.C.E. credit. This test is no longer valid for CEUs after .

    NIU is approved as a provider of continuing education programs in the clinical laboratory sciences by the ASCLS P.A.C.E. ® Program.