Chips 4 Life is a collaborative research consortium whose objective is to develop a multiplex diagnostic test that will help the clinician in defining rapidly the etiological agent(s) responsible(s) for a respiratory pathology, including presence of genes encoding antibiotic resistance markers and virulence factors.

The overall objective of this 3 years project is to develop a panel of dedicated rapid diagnostic tests based on a one-tube multi-parameter molecular amplification of viral and bacterial respiratory pathogens as well as resistance markers using classical broadly available thermocyclers followed by direct analysis on one-step microfluidic chips on a dedicated reader.

Context

Respiratory tract infections (RTIs) are a huge burden in terms of mortality and morbidity worldwide. They are very common and represent the main reason for seeking medical care. The disease burden for Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI) is estimated at 94 037 000 DALYs (Disability Adjusted Life Years) and 4.2 million deaths per year. ARI are among the leading causes of death in children under 5 years; they represent one of the two leading communicable disease killers. Among RTIs, it is convenient to distinguish between diseases of the upper and lower respiratory tract (URT and LRT).

Acute LRTIs are a persistent and pervasive public health problem. They cause a greater burden of disease worldwide than human immunodeficiency virus infection, malaria, cancer, or heart attacks. In the United States, they are responsible for more diseases and deaths than any other infection. Per year, globally the incidence of LRTI is 430 millions of episodes and at the European level it means 19 millions of episodes [2(The Global Burden of disease: 2004 update (WHO 2008)]. As projected by the WHO, lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI), mainly pneumonia, should be in 2030 one of the 4 leading causes of death in adults. Pneumonia is the single largest cause of death in children worldwide.

In addition, the issues of co-infections and resistance to antibiotics stress the needs for a rapid, selective and reliable diagnostic tool.