Summary:

«A team at the University of California Davis Health working with international collaborators have developed a new technique to detect typhoid and estimate its incidence in populations over time. The approach requires only a drop of blood from a finger prick and involves measuring levels of antibodies against two antigens: Hemolysin E (Hlye) and Salmonella lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The researchers simplified the assay so that it can be performed in remote and low-resource regions. The method also employs AI to calculate antibody decay, which provides an indication of when someone was originally infected. This lets the researchers calculate how an infection is spreading throughout a region.»

«Typhoid kills tens of thousands of people every year, and is primarily observed in remote and poorer regions of the world, where it typically spreads through contaminated food and water. Despite the human cost of the disease, current diagnostic approaches are not fit for purpose, particularly in areas with underdeveloped medical systems. The current lack of data on typhoid levels in such areas makes it difficult to use strategies, such as vaccination campaigns, to help reduce infections and infection-related deaths.»

Article written by Conn Hastings.

12|07|2022

Source:

Medgadget

https://www.medgadget.com/2022/07/typhoid-detection-technique-improves-diagnostic-sensitivity.html