Typhoid Detection Technique Improves Diagnostic Sensitivity

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 method also employs AI to calculate antibody decay, which provides an indication of when someone was originally infected
“Instead of just taking a sample, looking at the person’s antibody response and saying they’re negative or positive, we can model the antibody decay,” said Kristen Aiemjoy, a UC Davis researcher involved in the study. “We use that decay rate to infer when those people were most likely exposed, which provides vital information about the force of infection.”