The study represents the first step toward a safe, straightforward and easily obtainable test for bacterial infection and sets the stage for future clinical studies to explore the widespread feasibility of the test. “We want to explore how we can use this technology to have an impact at ground level — patients checking into urgent care or an emergency room, for example,” Neumann says. “There’s a lot of work to do in humans to establish a true protocol, but we are very enthusiastic about its potential.”
The study’s co-corresponding author is David Wilson, University of California, San Francisco. The study’s first author is Marina López-Álvarez, University of California, San Francisco. The study’s other authors are Sang Hee Lee, Anju Wadhwa, Mohammad Yaqoob Bhat, Jung Min Kim, Anil Bidhar, Joseph Blecha, Robert Flavell, Renuka Sriram and Joanne Engel, University of California, San Francisco; Shari Dhaene and Tom Desmet, Ghent University; Marshall McCue, Sable Systems International; Michael Ohliger, University of California, San Francisco and Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital; and Tyler Simmons, Spenser Simpson, Jeffrey Steinberg, Amanda Green and Jason Rosch, St. Jude.
The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health (R01-EB030897, R01-AI181378, R01-AI161027, R21-AI164684, R01-EB028338 and R01-AI192221), the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (20A0) and the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (ALSAC), the fundraising and awareness organization of St. Jude.
Source: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital