Bacterial protease activity, an indicator of bacterial pathogenicity in chronic wounds even in the absence of overt clinical signs

• Bacterial proteases are a type of virulence factor, which have been implicated in a range of medical conditions, including wound infections. • Clinical Signs of critical colonisation/infection may not be apparent in all chronic wounds. • Measuring CFU levels only in chronic wounds does not determine if bacteria are in a pathogenic state. • Testing wound fluid for bacterial protease activity may be a useful method for detecting the presence of pathogenic bacteria, at a clinically significant stage in the infection continuum. • On this basis, a new qualitative point of care test is under development to detect bacterial protease activity in chronic wounds, which may help identify the presence of pathogenic bacteria.