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Updated: Jul 15, 2026
12:33
Determination of Biofilm Initiation on Virus-infected Cells by Bacteria and Fungi
Published on: July 6, 2016
Distinction between bacterial and viral infections
Jari Nuutila1, Esa-Matti Lilius
1Department of Biochemistry, University of Turku, Turku, Finland. jarnuu@utu.fi
Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases
|May 2, 2007
Summary
Differentiating bacterial from viral infections is crucial for appropriate treatment. Measuring complement receptor expression on neutrophils, combined with clinical data, offers a highly sensitive and specific diagnostic approach.
Area of Science:
- Medical diagnostics
- Infectious disease research
- Immunology
Background:
- Accurate differentiation between bacterial and viral infections is essential for timely and appropriate patient treatment.
- Clinical features alone are often insufficient for reliable prediction of bacterial infection etiology.
- There is a persistent need for sensitive and specific biomarkers to identify bacterial infections.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review methods for differentiating bacterial from viral infections.
- To evaluate the utility of complement receptor expression on neutrophils as a diagnostic marker.
- To introduce a novel composite marker for bacterial infection diagnosis.
Main Methods:
- Review of common differential diagnosis methods for infections.
- Measurement of complement receptor expression, specifically CR1 (CD35), on neutrophils.
- Development and validation of a 'clinical infection score (CIS) point' integrating neutrophil complement receptor data and standard clinical laboratory results.
Main Results:
- Neutrophil complement receptor expression, particularly CR1 (CD35), shows promise as a preliminary test for distinguishing bacterial from viral infections.
- The novel 'clinical infection score (CIS) point' demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy.
- The CIS point achieved 98% sensitivity and 97% specificity in differentiating bacterial from viral infections.
Conclusions:
- Combining individual diagnostic variables significantly enhances their diagnostic yield for distinguishing bacterial from viral infections.
- The developed clinical infection score (CIS) point represents a valuable tool for improved differential diagnosis of infections.
- This approach aids in reducing unnecessary antibiotic treatments by enabling more precise diagnosis.
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