710561Novel Technologies for the Diagnosis of Influenza and Other Infectious Diseases at the Point-of-Care.ClosedGRD Proof of ConceptInnovate UKThis project aims to develop new technologies for the diagnosis of influenza and other infectious diseases. Seasonal flu infects 5-20% of the population each year, leading to >3 million serious cases and 250,000-500,000 deaths worldwide. In addition, the risk of new pandemic strains that spread rapidly across the World with devastating consequences is increasing. There is an urgent need for improved tests for the rapid diagnosis of influenza to improve patient management, optimise use of antiviral drugs and combat spread of the virus. Whilst effective and accurate (RT-PCR) flu diagnostic tests are available, they require complex hardware equipment and trained users in central hospital labs. As a result, their use is limited to tracking the spread of the virus and confirming diagnosis in some hospitalised patients. In contrast, rapid immunoassays, which detect flu antigens in nasal swabs, are easy to use and fast. They have achieved widespread adoption in the US, but are hampered by poor sensitivity, leading to missed diagnoses. There is a critical need to combine the performance of RT-PCR tests with the speed, usability and (low) cost of rapid immunoassays. Whilst many are focussing on technologically complex hardware solutions to achieve this goal, this project seeks to develop a novel, simple method of nucleic acid (e.g. DNA) detection and use it to produce a flu test that is amenable to future integration into a single use, point-of-care diagnostic device. The method is a simple alternative to RT-PCR without the need for complex equipment. It has the potential to enable nucleic acid tests to be performed by untrained users with simple, handheld devices, analogous to lateral flow immunoassays, e.g. pregnancy testing kits, in order to achieve widespread adoption in healthcare and community facilities to meet the clinical and public health potential of flu diagnostics.