Research: saliva shows the severity of respiratory infections in children better than a blood test

To determine the severity of recurrent respiratory disease in children, it is better to look at their saliva rather than their blood. This is the conclusion of researchers from the Children’s Hospital Radboudumc Amalia and the Children’s Hospital UMC Utrecht Wilhelmina in the European Respiratory Journal. At this time, a blood test is still normal.

About 10 to 15 percent of all children suffer from recurring respiratory infections, which are often caused by a virus or bacteria. If the infection results in a hospital visit, blood will be taken to look for antibodies and possible conditions or causes.

However, this rarely produces anything, says pediatric infectious disease specialist/psychologist Lilly Verhagen from the Radboud university medical center in a press release. “So we investigated whether we can find out more about the severity of illness in another way. That would be very valuable to determine which children need more care, and when It is advisable to give antibiotics.”

A study of one hundred children with recurrent respiratory infections now shows that saliva measurements are much more useful. In addition, they are more enjoyable for children.

Although blood tests do not find a connection between substances in the blood and the severity of the disease, this is the case with saliva. “We saw very broad protective antibodies in saliva, which work against all kinds of pathogens,” explains PhD student Mischa Koenen. “Children who have fewer such antibodies do worse and get more serious infections.” For example, they get pneumonia more often.

Researchers also observed that the severity of respiratory infection is related to a specific type of bacteria in the nasopharynx. Children who have a lot of this bacteria on the mucous membranes in the respiratory tract are much sicker in the winter.

According to the researchers, the measurements in saliva and nasal mucosa are valuable in determining what care and medication children with recurrent respiratory infections need.