A 5-transcript signature for discriminating viral and bacterial etiology in pediatric pneumonia
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Pneumonia stands as the primary cause of death among children under five, yet current diagnosis methods often result in inadequate or unnecessary treatments. Our research seeks to address this gap by identifying host transcriptomic biomarkers in the blood of children with definitive viral and bacterial pneumonia. We performed RNA sequencing on 192 prospectively collected whole blood samples, including 38 controls and 154 pneumonia cases, uncovering a 5-transcript signature (genes FAM20A, BAG3, TDRD9, MXRA7, and KLF14) that effectively distinguishes bacterial from viral pneumonia (area under the curve (AUC): 0.95 [0.88–1.00]). Initial validation using combined definitive and probable cases yielded an AUC of 0.87 [0.77–0.97], while full validation in a new prospective cohort of 32 patients achieved an AUC of 0.92 [0.83–1.00]. This robust signature holds significant potential to enhance diagnostics accuracy for pediatric pneumonia, reducing diagnostic delays and unnecessary treatments and potentially transforming clinical practice.
Date Issued
2025-02-21
Date Acceptance
2025-01-02
Citation
iScience, 2025, 28 (2)
ISSN
2589-0042
Publisher
Elsevier
Journal / Book Title
iScience
Volume
28
Issue
2
Copyright Statement
© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/39906557
PII: S2589-0042(25)00006-9
Subjects
CARE
CHILDREN
COMMUNITY-ACQUIRED PNEUMONIA
DIAGNOSIS
EXPRESSION
INFECTIONS
Multidisciplinary Sciences
NEUTROPHILS
R PACKAGE
RESPIRATORY-DISTRESS-SYNDROME
Science & Technology
Science & Technology - Other Topics
SEPSIS
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
United States
Article Number
111747
Date Publish Online
2025-01-04