As COVID-19 stands as a grim testimony to the damage an infectious disease can cause to human health and welfare, a major challenge in treating such diseases is misdiagnosis, which can lead to trial-and-error treatments, and improper use of antibiotics. Identifying the correct type of infection, is, therefore critical.
A recent study from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has identified a set of molecular biomarkers that can be used in the differential diagnosis of acute bacterial and viral infections.
First author Sathyabaarathi Ravichandran, Research Associate in the lab of Nagasuma Chandra, Professor at the Department of Biochemistry, explained that antibiotics are given even for viral infections in some cases because of misdiagnosis. With current methods, it can take a lot of time to test for bacterial or viral infections.