Mass Spectrometry of Breath for the Diagnosis of Infection and Exposure

he inability to distinguish among people infected by agents of biological warfare, those infected by more benign agents, and those who simply perceive relevant signs and symptoms has been a major impediment to the rapid resolution of biological warfare attacks. The initial signs and symptoms reported for infection with biological warfare agents mimic those of more common illnesses such as the fl u; therefore, an attack of this ilk could go unrecognized initially, wasting valuable resources and causing major health and economic impacts. One means to reduce or alleviate the threat posed by the use of biological warfare agents would be to quickly determine the extent of actual infection. Here we describe our approach to developing a rapid, sensitive, and reliable method to diagnose pulmonary infection presymptomatically using mass spectrometry.