Federal health officials are giving roughly $6 million to Wayne State University doctors and others seeking a faster, more accurate way to diagnose infants with serious infections.
The five-year, $5.8 million National Institutes of Health grant was announced Tuesday. The Detroit school and Children's Hospital of Michigan are working with doctors with The Ohio State University, University of California, Davis, and affiliated medical centers.
Researchers say in a news release that properly diagnosing and treating such infants is "one of the most vexing issues in pediatrics." Among their goals: Developing a system that brings diagnoses in a couple hours instead of up to two days.
The team has been evaluating febrile infants - those with invasive bacterial infections - for 15 years.