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		</div><p>The prescribing of antibiotics could be drastically reduced by a device that detects bacteria in human breath, scientists have said.</p>
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<p>Experts have created a machine that sniffs out bacteria – meaning it can tell when antibiotics are needed as a treatment.</p>
<p>They said the technology also means patients who present at GP surgeries with respiratory tract infections can be told they have the common cold or the flu.</p>
<p>It analyses the breath sample after a patient has blown into a breathing tube, like they would with a police breathalyser.</p>
<blockquote><p>Our idea is that we are going to get breath, and we are going to sniff it. Smelling breath gives access to the body&#8217;s biological process</p></blockquote>
<p>Certain chemicals are then identified, signalling whether or not bacteria is present.</p>
<p>Warwick University’s Professor James Covington, who developed the “electronic nose”, said he hopes it will one day help reduce the number of antibiotic prescriptions.</p>
<p>He said: “I want to try and make the drugs we have last longer.</p>
<p>“Our idea is that we are going to get breath, and we are going to sniff it.</p>
<p>“Smelling breath gives access to the body’s biological process.</p>
<p>“We are trying to reduce the number of people being prescribed medication – if you can reduce this by 20%, that is a massive saving.”</p>
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<p>Preliminary trial results from the BreathSpec project, which was led by Imspex, suggest it has 80% accuracy, Prof Covington told the British Science Festival, which is being held in Coventry and Warwickshire.</p>
<p>Over 18 months, the scientists recruited 1,112 participants from seven hospitals and two GP surgeries – two hospitals and two GP surgeries in Liverpool, two hospitals in Leicester and hospitals in Cardiff, Edinburgh and Blackpool.</p>
<p>They found that of these, 406 had an upper respiratory infection, of which 376 were non-bacterial and 30 were bacterial.</p>
<p>There were 520 people with lower respiratory infection, 272 of which were non-bacterial and 248 were bacterial.</p>
<p>Some 186 had neither.</p>
<p>Prof Covington said: “In essence, we were about 80% accurate – we could tell 80% of patients who did not have bacterial infections.</p>
<p>“This could be a cold or a flu or one of the other ones – that is pretty good for a general screening situation.</p>
<p>“But to an extent, you could also say that we could accurately state that eight out of 10 patients had the flu or common cold.</p>
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