Rapid and Reliable: New Study Confirms the Accuracy of Labmaster LUCIA™ MxA Test in Diagnosing Viral Infections in Children

A recently published study in the Journal of Infectious Diseases by Piri et al. (2024) highlights the groundbreaking accuracy and speed of the Labmaster LUCIA™ point-of-care (POC) MxA test in differentiating viral from bacterial infections in children. The study evaluated the performance of the test in 228 febrile children aged between 4 weeks and 16 years, primarily enrolled at the emergency department (ED). The results demonstrate that the rapid whole blood MxA measurement provides valuable support for clinical decision-making and antibiotic stewardship.

Key Findings:

• Essential for antibiotic stewardship – Rapid differentiation of viral from bacterial infections is critical in reducing unnecessary antibiotic use. Myxovirus resistance protein A (MxA) is a highly promising viral biomarker for this purpose.
• High agreement with reference method – With a cutoff limit of 200 µg/L, the Labmaster LUCIA™ POC MxA test results were consistent with the reference enzyme immunoassay in 87% of all cases and in 98% of cases where POC values exceeded the cutoff.
• Clear distinction between infection types – Children with viral infections, with or without a bacterial co-infection, exhibited substantially elevated MxA levels, while those with bacterial infections alone had consistently low levels. The test demonstrated excellent ability to discriminate between viral and bacterial infections (excluding viral-bacterial co-infections).
• Faster results for emergency settings – Traditional enzyme immunoassay (EIA) methods take several hours in the laboratory, whereas the Labmaster LUCIA™ MxA test delivers results in just 11 minutes from a whole blood sample, enabling rapid clinical decision-making.

Implications for Clinical Practice

The study underscores the potential of MxA testing in improving diagnostic accuracy and supporting more targeted use of antibiotics. By providing quick and reliable results at the point of care, the Labmaster LUCIA™ MxA test can help healthcare professionals make informed decisions and reduce unnecessary diagnostic procedures.

For more details, access the full study in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.