Biosensors for detecting viral and bacterial infections using host biomarkers: a review

Viral and bacterial infections commonly occur by their transmission through air, contaminated food, water, body fluids or physical contact from person to person. They rapidly spread among the population causing millions of deaths worldwide. One of the major challenges in the diagnosis of infection is differential diagnosis of viral from bacterial infections. Constant viral mutations, reassortment and recombination give rise to the emergence of new and diverse viral populations which makes the diagnosis difficult. Antibiotics prescribed for patients suffering from viral infections are ineffective and a contributing factor to bacterial antibiotic resistance. Evaluating the existing biosensing platforms for early diagnosis of the bacterial etiology of infections enables researchers and clinicians to differentially diagnose viral infections. Over the last decade, many biosensors have been developed to detect a wide range of bacterial and viral markers and reduce the costs for healthcare. There has been considerable interest in finding diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers that can be detected in blood and predict bacterial and viral infections. This review provides an overview on the existing biosensor technology platforms for host biomarker detection that can be applied for differential diagnosis of viral and bacterial infections, as well as recommended considerations and future prospects of viral/bacterial infection detection technology.