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A new blood test predicts which influenza patients will develop potentially deadly secondary infections, such as pneumonia.

The High-risk Influenza Screen Test (HIST) measures 鈥榓n early warning signal鈥� released by the patient鈥檚 body into their blood to 鈥榢ick start鈥� their immune system鈥檚 fight against the infection.

The test needs only a single drop of blood and a few hours to predict, with 91% accuracy, which influenza patients will develop potentially deadly secondary infections.

Previously doctors could only test for influenza infection but didn鈥檛 know which patients would be at risk of rapid deterioration.

Developed by Dr Benjamin Tang,聽a doctor from the Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Nepean 黑料吃瓜群网 and medical researcher at Westmead Institute for Medical Research, the test is a聽world first and identifies which influenza patients will need urgent, life-saving, medical treatment.

鈥淚nfluenza can sometimes kill otherwise healthy people in the prime of their lives,鈥� Dr Tang said.

鈥淏y using the High-risk Influenza Screen Test we鈥檙e eavesdropping on the immune system to pick up when the body first mounts a defence against a serious, life-threatening infection.

鈥淭he early warning means we have a greater chance to treat the patient鈥檚 infection before it overwhelms them and potentially kills them,鈥� Dr Tang said.

The research, published聽by Dr Tang and colleagues in the European Respiratory Journal, deciphered the genetic codes that immune cells release to warn the body of a serious infection, such as pneumonia, caused by the influenza virus.

HIST will be particularly useful during pandemics when there is a delay in developing vaccines for strains of the influenza virus.

鈥淲e can now test people during a pandemic, or outbreak of a new flu virus, to identify those who might be at greater risk of developing serious complications.

鈥淭he test works with any flu infection as it looks at how the body reacts rather than the strain or type of virus.鈥�

Dr Tang said HIST could also be used to track the effectiveness of new drugs in clinical trials by accurately plotting the patient鈥檚 immune response.

The patented HIST runs on equipment already available in most pathology laboratories.

The full research paper is available in the聽.

Image credit: 漏stock.adobe.com/au/Dimitry Lobanov