A Blood-Based Host Biomarker for Discriminating Viral and Bacterial Infections: A Clinical Decision Support Tool

The project proposes to develop a biomarker-based blood test to rapidly discriminate between viral and bacterial infections. The test will aid stewardship efforts by reducing the indiscriminate use of antibiotics for all suspected infections. As preliminary work, the study team has identified a panel of host genes capable of robustly discriminating viral from bacterial infections. The expression profiles of these genes were quantified in independent datasets available publicly which demonstrated a significant separation between viral and bacterial infections. Effective utilisation of this information will optimise the appropriate use of antibiotics in the clinical setup.