New Diagnostic Test Helps Identify Febrile Infants at Risk for Serious Bacterial Illness

A new two-gene RNA assay had a sensitivity of 89% and specificity of 94% for differentiating infants with bacterial infection from those with proven viral infection.

A two-gene RNA biosignature assay (IFI44L and FAM89A) has previously been shown to distinguish bacterial from viral infections in febrile children <17 years of age (NEJM JW Pediatr Adolesc Med Aug 31 2016; [e-pub] and JAMA 2016; 316:835 and 846). Now, investigators evaluated its performance in a sample of febrile infants <60 days of age who presented to one of 22 participating sites in the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN). The investigators calculated a single disease risk score by subtracting the intensity of the IFI44L transcript from that of the FAM89A transcript.

Included were 89 infants with culture-positive bacterial infections (32 with bacteremia, 57 with urinary tract infection) and 190 infants with negative…

Reviewing Author

Katherine Bakes, MD

Disclosures

RoyaltiesEmergency Medicine Secrets (Elsevier)

Grant/Research SupportDepartment of Justice

Editorial BoardsEmergency Medicine Secrets (Elsevier); Rosen’s Emergency Medicine (Elsevier)

Katherine Bakes, MD

Disclosures

RoyaltiesEmergency Medicine Secrets (Elsevier)

Grant/Research SupportDepartment of Justice

Editorial BoardsEmergency Medicine Secrets (Elsevier); Rosen’s Emergency Medicine (Elsevier)

New Diagnostic Test Helps Identify Febrile Infants at Risk for Serious Bacterial Illness

Topics

Reviewing Author