Monitoring infection in patients with compromised immune systems

Acute respiratory tract infections are a leading cause of death in infants and children worldwide. Those with impaired immune systems are at a higher risk.

Physicians can adapt therapy for their patients by checking their response to antiviral drugs. Yet, accurate viral and immune markers are still needed.

St. Jude scientists have developed a test to monitor infections in these patients.

The team used digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR). The dPCR tests can detect influenza virus and respiratory syncytial virus in respiratory samples.

“Our results showed that the dPCR test can correlate the amount of virus present in a sample with clinical symptoms,” said Diego Hijano, MD, of the St. Jude Department of Infectious Diseases. “This approach may provide an important tool to assess a patient’s treatment needs.”

A report on this work appeared in PLoS One.

The study’s other authors are Jessica Brazelton de Cardenas, Gabriela Maron, Cherilyn Garner, Jose Ferrolino, Ronald Dallas, Zhengming Gu and Randall Hayden, all of St. Jude.