MICA: Development of a novel host blood test using TRanscripts to Identify bacterial Meningitis - TRIM test study

脑感染，如细菌性脑膜炎，在英国和世界范围内仍然会导致死亡和残疾。医生的关键决定是确定患者是否患有细菌性脑膜炎，或者他们是否患有类似的疾病（临床模拟），如病毒性脑膜炎。在这两种情况下，病人往往看起来是一样的。然而，细菌感染需要立即用抗生素治疗，而模拟感染则不需要。区分两者的基本测试是腰椎穿刺（一根针穿过脊柱的骨头之间）。腰椎穿刺经常被延迟，或者根本不进行。这可能会导致需要抗生素治疗的患者延迟抗生素治疗，或者不需要抗生素治疗的患者使用不必要的抗生素，以及患者未得到诊断。我们提供了一种新的测试，测量身体对血液中细菌感染的反应。这意味着患者无需等待腰椎穿刺即可进行测试。我们相信这项测试将帮助医生更准确地决定哪些患者需要或不需要抗生素。这将促进适当的治疗，减少不必要的抗生素，减少住院时间，改善病人护理，减轻保健人员和医院的负担。我们正在与一家工业公司合作，他们是开发诊断测试的专家，以开发我们的临床测试。我们还与英国，欧洲，巴西和非洲的许多专家临床团队建立联系，以评估我们对大量患者的测试，以确保其准确性。通过这个项目，我们将确认测试的准确性，并完善测试，使其可以在未来5年内在医院使用。

Brain infections, such as bacterial meningitis, still cause death and disability in the UK and worldwide.The key decision for a doctor is to decide whether a patient has bacterial meningitis, or whether they have a similar condition (a clinical mimic), such as viral meningitis. In both cases the patient often looks the same. However, bacterial infection needs immediate treatment with antibiotics whereas a mimic does not.The essential test for distinguishing between the two is the lumbar puncture (a needle passing between the bones in the spine). The lumbar puncture is often delayed, or not performed at all. This can result in delayed antibiotic treatment for those who need it, or unnecessary antibiotics in those who do not, as well as a patient not receiving a diagnosis.We offer a novel test measuring the body's response to bacterial infection in the blood. This means patients can be tested without having to wait for the lumbar puncture. We believe this test will help doctors to more accurately decide which patients do or do not need antibiotics. This will promote appropriate treatment, reduce unnecessary antibiotics, reduce in-patient stay, improve patient care and reduce the burden on health staff and hospitals. We are working with an industrial company who are experts in developing diagnostic tests, to develop our test for clinical use. We are also linking with many expert clinical teams in the UK, Europe, Brazil and Africa to assess our test on a large number of patients to ensure it is accurate. Through this project we will confirm the test is accurate and refine the test so that it can be used in hospitals in under the next 5 years.