METHODS FOR PREDICTING AND TREATING INFECTION-INDUCED ILLNESSES AND PREDICTING THE SEVERITY OF INFECTION-INDUCED ILLNESSES

摘要

The invention provides methods for determining the likelihood and identifying a subject with an increased propensity to develop one or more infection-induced illness(es) or one or more severe infection-induced illness(es). The invention further provides methods of treating an infection (e.g., bacterial infection), methods of diagnosing an infection-induced illness in a subject, and methods of predicting the future severity of one or more infection- induced illness(es). The provided methods require the steps of measuring the amount of a microbial nucleic acid or peptide in a sample from the subject, measuring the amount of mitochondrial nucleic acid or peptide in the sample, and comparing the amount of the microbial nucleic acid or peptide to the amount of the mitochondrial nucleic acid or peptide. Also provided are kits for determining the likelihood or propensity of a subject to develop one or more infection-induced illness(es) or severe infection-induced illnesses and kits for diagnosing one or more infection-induced illness(es) in a subject and identifying a subject as having an increased risk of later developing one or more severe infection-induced illness(es). The provided kits contain one or more primers effective for the amplification of a mitochondrial nucleic acid and one or more primers effective for the amplification of a microbial nucleic acid, or one or more antibodies that specifically bind to one or more microbial peptides and one or more antibodies that specifically bind to one or more mitochondrial peptides.