Research into breath volatile analysis of infection is growing rapidly within the last decade, particularly with concern over antibiotic resistance. Volatiles from pathogenic microbes and host metabolism can used as early markers of infection. Advances in standardised breath sampling and analysis strategies form a vital step towards early and accurate diagnosis.

Interested in learning more? Then see tweet by @mancbreathgroup and read our news item in Microbiologist – a magazine from Society for Applied Microbiology:

• News: Ahmed, W.M., Fowler, S.J. & Goodacre, R. (2017) Sniffing out lung infection. Microbiologist (from Society for Applied Microbiology), 18(3; Sept), 20-23.

For further reading see our 2 recent reviews in breathomics:

• Review on exhaled volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of infection published in ACS Infectious Diseases.
• Review on methods for measuring VOCs published in Metabolomics.