A test has been developed that could help diagnose bacterial infections including meningitis in minutes, but it could take several years before a cheap testing device is available to developing countries, scientists said on Wednesday.

The new test could save lives, allow treatment of disease — which is difficult to diagnose — to start much sooner and reduce the risk of life-changing after effects, an international team of researchers led by Imperial College London said.

"We would very much hope this could become something cheap enough to be applied even in resource poor regions," Imperial College Professor Michael Levin told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.