Innovative research from Imperial College London has introduced a novel diagnostic method for childhood illnesses that could expedite treatment decisions, reducing delays and overuse of antibiotics, potentially revolutionizing pediatric healthcare.
Diagnosing the cause of fevers in children, whether it’s a viral or bacterial infection or another issue, is often complex, and conventional tests can take days or weeks to provide results. The Imperial College London team has proposed a new avenue: analyzing gene patterns in a patient’s blood to accelerate diagnosis.
Although this approach is in the early stages of development, successful trials and regulatory approval could lead to a transformative blood test that addresses the problem of antibiotics overuse, which contributes to the alarming issue of antimicrobial resistance.
Currently, antibiotics are often prescribed to children even when their condition is viral, leading to ineffective treatment and the development of drug-resistant infections.
Recent research spanning nine European countries found that 75% of children hospitalized with fevers went undiagnosed. This hampers timely treatment for serious infections like sepsis, tuberculosis, and pneumonia.
The study, published in Cell Press Med, employed a unique diagnostic methodology. Researchers analyzed data from thousands of patients, including 1,000 children with various infectious or inflammatory diseases. By identifying specific genes that were activated or suppressed in response to different illnesses, the team established “molecular signatures” of diseases.
These signatures were then tested on over 400 child patients hospitalized with sepsis or severe infections, and the accuracy was gauged against current gold standard testing techniques. The research suggested that the new approach achieved over 90% accuracy in diagnosis.
However, the researchers acknowledge that there’s a substantial amount of work required before the test can be adopted into clinical practice.
Dr. Myrsini Kaforou, Senior Lecturer at Imperial College London, highlighted the potential of this approach to provide precise and timely treatment decisions while optimizing antibiotic usage and shortening the time taken for diagnosis of inflammatory diseases.
The research has the potential to be transformative for healthcare, as stated by Prof. Michael Levin, Chair in Paediatrics at Imperial.
Trials involving thousands of patients across Europe, Africa, and Asia are currently underway to determine the real-world impact and efficacy of this novel diagnostic method. While the approach holds promise, experts emphasize that further research is essential to ensure its safety and effectiveness in practical healthcare settings.
