Host RNA Profiles to Detect Infections in Young Infants

Background:

Infections in young infants is a challenge as 1) it is often not possible to distinguish serious bacterial infection (SBI) from viral infection by clinical appearance alone, 2) a causative organism is often not identified and 3) due to relatively low sensitivity and specificity of current biomarkers. The consequence is overtreatment with antibiotics being prescribed to as many as 50% of febrile young infants presenting to emergency departments. However, the majority of these children does not have a bacterial infection. Host RNA expression profiling has shown high sensitivity and specificity for discriminating bacterial from non-bacterial infections in preliminary studies of febrile young infants.

Methods:

A prospective multicentre observational study including young infants admitted and evaluated due to suspected infection at the 4 paediatric acute care units in the Capital Region of Denmark (Rigshospitalet, Hvidovre Hospital, Herlev Hospital, Nordsjællands Hospital - Hillerød). Whole blood will be collected in PAXgene blood RNA tubes and analysed by RNA sequencing at the Centre for Genomic Medicine, Rigshospitalet. Host RNA expression profiles will be identified in a discovery cohort and the diagnostic performance will be tested in a validation cohort. A control group of healthy and afebrile young infants will be included.

Time frames: