Looking for a multiparametric paediatric diagnostic algorithm
Young children living in contact with a case of tuberculosis are at an increased risk of becoming infected and progressing to the disease. In addition, the limitations of current methods for diagnosing pediatric tuberculosis led to underdiagnosis and misdiagnosis in children, resulting in delayed treatment and the development of severe forms of the disease or even death.
To address this challenge, we identified a series of host biomarkers in the blood to improve the diagnosis of pediatric TB. We first developed a model based on the combination of IP-10, IFN-γ, ferritin and 25(OH)D that discriminated children with active TB from children with LTBI with high diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity of 93.2% and specificity of 90.0%). This combination of biomarkers was patented in the EU and US.
This project aims to evaluate the diagnostic model based on the combination of biomarkers in blood in pediatric populations from different geographic areas and to develop a point-of-care diagnostic test which would improve access to TB services, promoting early diagnosis of TB and LTBI in the pediatric population.
Currently, we are evaluating the multiparametric pediatric diagnostic model in a cohort of European children and exploring the possibility of translating the model to a lateral flow assay.
