Our Work

Design of a diagnostic test for bacterial versus viral upper respiratory infections

Singapore's National Strategic Action Plan on AMR emphasizes the need to ensure the appropriate use of antimicrobials in order to curb the spread of AMR. Antimicrobials are often prescribed before an individual's infection has been diagnosed. Accurate, rapid diagnostics have been identified as a pressing need. While panels of biomarkers for distinguishing bacterial from viral infections have been proposed and tested, success with this approach has not been satisfactory. We will leverage bead-based assays that rapidly and affordably provide aM to fM sensitivity in order to test the hypothesis that enhanced sensitivity may yield lower incidences of false positives and false negatives. In a parallel effort, we will simultaneously mine large, existing data sets to discover new candidate biomarkers that can distinguish bacterial from viral infections.