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Harnessing the host response for precision infectious disease diagnosis
E Wilbur Woodhouse1,2, Micah T McClain1,2, Christopher W Woods1,2
1Department of Medicine, Center for Infectious Disease Diagnostics and Innovation, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
Clinical Microbiology Reviews
|October 15, 2024
Summary
Accurate infection diagnosis is crucial for effective antimicrobial treatment. Host response diagnostics offer a more timely and precise alternative to traditional pathogen detection methods, especially in critical care settings.
Area of Science:
- Medical Diagnostics
- Infectious Disease
- Immunology
Background:
- Current infection diagnostics often rely on pathogen detection, which can be slow and inaccurate.
- Distinguishing colonization from true infection and timely results are significant challenges.
- Understanding the host's immune response provides a more comprehensive diagnostic approach.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the limitations of pathogen-focused diagnostic technologies.
- To highlight the benefits of host response-based diagnostics for infection detection.
- To explore novel biomarkers and multianalyte testing for diagnosing infections.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on diagnostic strategies for infection.
- Analysis of host immune response markers, including genomics and gene expression.
- Evaluation of currently available and developing host-based multianalyte diagnostic tests.
Main Results:
- Pathogen-focused diagnostics have limitations in accuracy, speed, and differentiating infection from colonization.
- Host response diagnostics offer more timely and accurate detection of infection, particularly in critical illness.
- Several host-based multianalyte tests show promise and are in late-stage development.
Conclusions:
- Host response diagnostics represent a significant advancement over traditional methods.
- These novel diagnostics improve clinical decision-making for antimicrobial use.
- Further innovation in host response-derived diagnostics is expected to enhance infection management.
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