Detection and Characterization of Infections and Infection Susceptibility

September 15, 2026 updated by: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

Screening Protocol for Detection and Characterization of Infections and Infection Susceptibility

This screening study will examine the causes of immune disorders affecting white blood cells, which defend against infections and will try to develop better means of diagnosis and treatment of these immune disorders. This is a 2 visit screening study and patients determined to be of interest for additional study or treatment will be asked to provide consent for enrollment into an appropriate NIH follow up study. This study does not cover the cost of the first visit to NIH for travel or lodgings but does cover the subsequent visit if there is one. A financial assessment may determine if the patient is eligible for financial assistance. This study does not enroll children under the age of 2.

Patients known to have or suspected of having increased susceptibility to infections and their blood relatives may be eligible for this study, at the discretion of the principal investigator. Patients and family members may undergo the following procedures:

  • Personal and family medical history.
  • Physical examination and blood and urine tests.
  • Studies of breathing function (pulmonary function testing)
  • Dental examination.
  • Eye examination.
  • Genetic Testing
  • Stored specimens for future analysis
  • Microscopic examination of saliva, wound drainage or tissues removed for medical reasons for cell, hormone or DNA studies.

In addition, patients will be asked to obtain permission for investigators to obtain their medical records, previous test results, or radiographic studies prior to the first visit. Patients will be asked to undergo imaging studies, such as a chest X-ray, CT scan or MRI scan.

...

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Detailed Description

This screening study is designed to evaluate patients with suspected or identified recurrent or unusual infections and their family members for clinical and in vitro correlates of exposure and susceptibility. It will allow for up to 2 visits to obtain blood, urine, saliva, stool, skin biopsy, or wound drainage from such patients or their family members for research studies related to understanding the nature of the infection as well as the genetic and biochemical bases of these diseases. Patients determined by initial evaluation to be of interest for additional study or treatment will be asked to provide consent for enrollment into an appropriate NIH follow-up study. The present study will enroll up to 2000 patients and family members over the next 25 years.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
2000

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Maryland
      • Bethesda, Maryland, United States, 20892
        • Recruiting
        • National Institutes of Health Clinical Center
        • Contact:
          • For more information at the NIH Clinical Center contact Office of Patient Recruitment (OPR)
          • Phone Number: TTY dial 711 800-411-1222
          • Email: ccopr@nih.gov

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

1 month and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

primary clinical

Description

  • INCLUSION CRITERIA:

PATIENTS:

  • Patients known to have, or suspected of having an infection susceptibility and their healthy blood relatives will be eligible for enrollment.
  • Participants must be over 1 month of age. There will be no limit as to sex, race or disability.
  • Patients must have a primary physician outside of the NIH and may be required to submit a letter from their physician that documents their relevant health history.
  • The participant or the participant's guardian/LAR will be willing and capable of providing informed consent after initial counseling by clinical staff. Separate consent forms for all interventional procedures will be obtained after explanation of the specific procedure.
  • Patients and relatives must agree to have blood and tissue stored for future studies of the immune system and/or other medical conditions.
  • Patients and relatives may be concurrently enrolled on other protocols as long as the Principal Investigator is informed.
  • The patient must be enrolled on this protocol to have relatives enrolled.

The patient and patient relative cohorts will include the following special populations:

  • Children: Children are included in this study because immune defects may present in early childhood, and early diagnosis or characterization may benefit subjects. Children who do not meet the age and weight criteria for care at the Clinical Center, may have sample collection only.
  • Decisionally impaired adults: Patients and patient relatives will be able to provide informed consent for themselves or, if they lack the capacity to provide informed consent, the study team will obtain consent from the legally authorized representative. Patients with underlying immune disorders, autoimmune phenomena or severe infections may sometimes present with delirium, encephalopathy, or coma and are therefore unable to provide informed consent. Excluding patients who are unable to provide consent could adversely impact patient access to medical therapy at the NIH as well as adversely impact research recruitment. Excluding patients unable to provide consent would also essentially prohibit us from evaluating patients at higher risk for adverse outcomes and therefore skew our understanding of disease. Similarly, enrolled patient subjects who lose the ability to provide ongoing consent during study participation may continue in the study. The risks and benefits of participation for subjects unable to consent should be identical to those described for less vulnerable patients.

EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

  1. A well understood acquired abnormality which leads to infection susceptibility, such as HIV, cytotoxic chemotherapy, or active malignancy may be adequate explanation for the infection diathesis. These may be grounds for exclusion if, in the opinion of the investigators, the presence of such disease process interferes significantly with evaluation (applicable to patients and their blood relatives).
  2. Severe or uncommon infections or syndromes often require highly specialized teams and institutions. Some referred cases will not be able to be handled appropriately at the NIH and may be deemed ineligible, as determined by the Principal Investigator.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Observational Models: Cohort
  • Time Perspectives: Prospective

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
healthy blood relatives
relatives not ill with a known or suspected infection susceptibility syndrome
Patients
patients who either have, or are suspected of having, an infection or infection susceptibility in order to further characterize such conditions

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
determination of a discrete diagnosis of an infecting agent, an underlying susceptibility trait, or both.
Time Frame: upon diagnosis or after the second visit
patients determined to have a diagnosis or syndrome that requires further study at the NIH will be asked to provide consent for enrollment into an appropriate study for further diagnosis and/or treatment
upon diagnosis or after the second visit

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Steven M Holland, M.D., National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
January 2, 2007

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
November 28, 2006

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 28, 2006

First Posted (Estimated)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
November 29, 2006

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
September 16, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 15, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
July 10, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 070033
  • 07-I-0033

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

We will share human data generated in this study for future research as follows:@@@-Identified data in the Biomedical Translational Research Information System (BTRIS, automatic for activities in the NIH CC).@@@-De-identified or identified data with approved outside collaborators under appropriate agreements.@@@-Data sharing may be complicated or limited in certain cases by contractual obligations or agreements with outside collaborators, such as cooperative research and development agreements, clinical trial agreements, other restraints, etc.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

IPD and supporting information will be available after completion of the study. No end date.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Data will be shared through:@@@-BTRIS (automatic for activities in the NIH CC).@@@-Approved outside collaborators under appropriate individual agreements.@@@-Publication and/or public presentations.@@@-Data might be shared before publication.@@@-The PI will review all requests for sharing data.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • SAP

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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