The test overcomes the limitations of traditional diagnosis. It is fast, accurate and can can diagnose infections that are not readily accessible, such as pneumonia.

Test can distinguish between bacterial and viral infections

A new blood test can help doctors tell whether a patient has bacterial or viral infection, according to research published in Plos One.

The test could prevent patients being prescribed antibiotics when they are not needed.

Bacterial and viral infections are often difficult to distinguish, which can lead to antibiotic overuse and contribute to the spread of antibiotic resistance.

For the past four years, leading clinicians and scientists from around the world have been working with MeMed to develop and validate an approach for distinguishing between bacterial and viral infections.

Eran Eden, CEO of MeMed, said: "Antibiotic misuse is a pressing public health concern, with devastating healthcare and economic consequences. Rapid, accurate and actionable diagnostic tools are an important part of the solution because they can aid physicians in making better informed treatment decisions.

"This approach builds on an exquisite informative system crafted by nature - the human immune system. Our scientists have figured out how to decode the actions of the immune system doing what it does best -- detecting and responding to the precise cause of infection."

The test supports the fact that bacteria and viruses trigger different pathways in the immune system. By conducting extensive blood screening in patients with acute infections, the team discovered three soluble proteins that are uniquely activated by bacteria or viruses.  They then developed proprietary algorithms that integrate these proteins to produce an immune signature that accurately identifies the cause of infection.

The researches say that the test overcomes the limitations of traditional diagnosis. It is fast, accurate and can can diagnose infections that are not readily accessible, such as pneumonia.  It can also prevents false alarms due to the benign presence of potentially pathogenic bacteria and viruses that are not causing active disease.

"This study represents a breakthrough in our efforts to develop more accurate, rapid and actionable diagnostic tools that improve the management of patients with acute infection." said Professor Isaac Srugo, head of the Pediatric Department and Microbiology Lab at Bnai Zion Medical Center.

"The incorporation of novel viral-induced proteins, currently not in clinical use, enables [the test] to attain high levels of accuracy, which can help physicians make better informed antibiotic treatment decisions.

"This should result in more bacterial infected patients receiving timely therapy that is actually useful for treating their illness. Additionally, it can lead to fewer prescriptions to viral patients for whom antibiotics do nothing to speed recovery, while causing potential harm to the larger community."

The test has been approved for clinical use in the European Union and Israel.  It is currently in pilot distribution in these areas which a broader commercial roll-out planned for later this year.

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