Excerpt:
An in vitro rapid blood assay has been shown to differentiate between bacterial and viral infections with significant sensitivity and specificity, outperforming routine biomarker and laboratory tests. The diagnostic test is described online in the journal PLOS ONE.
Because bacterial and viral infections are often clinically indistinguishable from one another, this can lead to inappropriate use of antibiotics (both overprescribing for viral infections and underprescribing for bacterial ones). The ImmunoXpert diagnostic test extensively screens for immune system proteins in patients with acute infections to identify viral-induced host proteins and bacterial-induced proteins.
