Respiratory infections continue to account for the most common infectious diseases and most acute febrile illnesses worldwide. Numerous pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, mycobacterium, or mixed pathogens, can be involved in acute respiratory infection. Even with the advance of microbiological molecular diagnosis, distinguishing bacterial from viral infection and searching for causative pathogens during the early stage of the disease course remains quite challenging for the clinician. Traditionally, host biomarkers, including white blood cell counts, serum C-reactive protein (CRP), and procalcitonin, combined with clinical presentations, are used for phenotypic or risk classification. Leukocytosis with high CRP usually indicates a higher risk for severe bacterial infection, while CRP is lacking in viral infection. However, the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has complicated the current understanding of the implication of these biomarkers. High CRP is notably found in severe COVID-19 infection and related hyperinflammatory syndrome, even without bacterial co-infection. More comprehensive studies on how the host biomarkers and microbiological diagnosis work to categorize pediatric infectious diseases for personalized management are still needed.
This Research Topic aims to cover topics that regard the changing trend of common respiratory infections worldwide before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and the discovery of biomarkers for pediatric infectious diseases. The main goal is to provide insights into the global epidemiology of respiratory illness and biomarkers for risk stratification in clinical settings. Recently, there have been significant advances from host transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, and multi-omic studies, together with machine learning algorithms for step-wide decision-making in many diseases. However, there is no single perfect biomarker or derived decision-making strategy for pediatric infectious disease. Multi-biomarkers in different decision-making stages might be warranted in future precision management toward this category. This article collection covers this issue from a range of aspects including clinical manifestations, epidemiology, biomarkers identification, validation, clinical strategy-making, and potential implications.
The theme of this Research Topic can be approached from the clinical epidemiology of common respiratory infections and the discovery and implications of biomarkers in pediatric infectious disease. Examples of clinical epidemiology may include but not be limited to common respiratory pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2, influenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus, adenovirus, pneumococcus, mycoplasma, and clinical parameters related to disease severity in such infections. Examples of biomarkers may include but not be limited to currently available clinical laboratory markers such as CRP, procalcitonin, interleukin-6, and biomarkers under investigation, such as RNA signature or novel protein markers. Article types of interest include Original Research, Perspective, Systematic Review, Review, and Mini-Review articles.
Respiratory infections continue to account for the most common infectious diseases and most acute febrile illnesses worldwide. Numerous pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, mycobacterium, or mixed pathogens, can be involved in acute respiratory infection. Even with the advance of microbiological molecular diagnosis, distinguishing bacterial from viral infection and searching for causative pathogens during the early stage of the disease course remains quite challenging for the clinician. Traditionally, host biomarkers, including white blood cell counts, serum C-reactive protein (CRP), and procalcitonin, combined with clinical presentations, are used for phenotypic or risk classification. Leukocytosis with high CRP usually indicates a higher risk for severe bacterial infection, while CRP is lacking in viral infection. However, the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has complicated the current understanding of the implication of these biomarkers. High CRP is notably found in severe COVID-19 infection and related hyperinflammatory syndrome, even without bacterial co-infection. More comprehensive studies on how the host biomarkers and microbiological diagnosis work to categorize pediatric infectious diseases for personalized management are still needed.
This Research Topic aims to cover topics that regard the changing trend of common respiratory infections worldwide before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and the discovery of biomarkers for pediatric infectious diseases. The main goal is to provide insights into the global epidemiology of respiratory illness and biomarkers for risk stratification in clinical settings. Recently, there have been significant advances from host transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, and multi-omic studies, together with machine learning algorithms for step-wide decision-making in many diseases. However, there is no single perfect biomarker or derived decision-making strategy for pediatric infectious disease. Multi-biomarkers in different decision-making stages might be warranted in future precision management toward this category. This article collection covers this issue from a range of aspects including clinical manifestations, epidemiology, biomarkers identification, validation, clinical strategy-making, and potential implications.
The theme of this Research Topic can be approached from the clinical epidemiology of common respiratory infections and the discovery and implications of biomarkers in pediatric infectious disease. Examples of clinical epidemiology may include but not be limited to common respiratory pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2, influenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus, adenovirus, pneumococcus, mycoplasma, and clinical parameters related to disease severity in such infections. Examples of biomarkers may include but not be limited to currently available clinical laboratory markers such as CRP, procalcitonin, interleukin-6, and biomarkers under investigation, such as RNA signature or novel protein markers. Article types of interest include Original Research, Perspective, Systematic Review, Review, and Mini-Review articles.