Personalized Therapy of Infectious Diseases

Jain, Kewal K.

Advances in point-of-care diagnostics have enable physicians to avoid dispensing antibiotics for infections without timely availability of laboratory diagnosis. Improved diagnostics can enable prescriptions according to a pathogen’s susceptibilities. Various examples of personalized management are given with emphasis on HIV, which was one of the first among infectious diseases where molecular diagnostic was used to guide treatment. Molecular diagnostics has been refined by nanobiotechnology and combined with refinements in formulation and delivery of antimicrobial agents for personalized management of infectious diseases. Treatment or prophylaxis of invasive fungal infection in patients undergoing treatments that predispose them to inter- and intra-patient variations in drug metabolism as well as drug interactions, require a personalized approach. Polymorphism is common in genes encoding enzymes such as CYP450, which is a component of antifungal drug metabolism pathway. Although molecular assays for direct detection of the viral genetic material are available for the diagnosis of acute COVID-19 infection, there is lack serological assays suitable to specifically detect SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Sequencing of the genomes of corona virus and study of genetic susceptibility of patients enable personalized approach to management.