Experts Creating Rapid Disease Diagnosis Tools

News Desk

Islamabad: Experts are in the early stages of developing a method of examining genetic patterns through blood tests that would allow the early diagnosis of diseases, especially fevers, in children.

According to research published in the medical journal ‘Cell’, British experts are developing a new method of blood testing that will detect inflammatory diseases, including fever, in children and provide them with timely medical assistance.

To develop the new blood test, the experts first examined the diseases and tests of more than 1,200 adults, including children, across Europe.

Experts compared 18 diseases that cause fever and inflammation in children and their blood tests to see which genetic patterns are more active and which patterns slow down during each disease.

During the research, they found dozens of genetic patterns that cause different types of fever and inflammatory diseases in children.

With all the results in mind, they have started experiments on the blood tests of children in Europe, Africa, and Asia for the new blood test, and during the experiment, it will be seen which genetic patterns cause which disease.

After the trial phase, a new blood test will be developed through which doctors will be able to quickly detect the cause of diseases in children, especially fever, and give them good medicines immediately.

The new blood test will clearly reduce the use of antibiotic drugs, as most doctors currently give such drugs to children, even for common fevers, according to experts.

Researchers further said that antibiotic drugs help treat diseases and complications in the form of infection, but they do not affect diseases caused by viruses. Some children are also given antibiotics if they develop a viral fever, they added.

Experts clarified that the development of the new blood test method is still in its early stages, and it is too early to say how long it will take.