Zika: Novel point-of-care molecular diagnostics for the simultaneous diagnosis of Zika, chikungunya and dengue infections in Latin America.
Lead Research Organisation:
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
Department Name: UNLISTED
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Technical Summary
The Americas are experiencing simultaneous arbovirus epidemics which are transmitted by
the same vectors and have overlapping clinical presentation. The difficulties experienced in
confirming the role of Zika as a potential teratogenic pathogen and understanding the risk of
Guillain-Barre have demonstrated the deficiencies of current diagnostics for epidemiological
investigations and clinical management [1].
Until recently, dengue infections were identified by confirming the first few clinical cases in
reference laboratories; all subsequent cases were assumed to be due to the same virus. This
approach no longer works as several arboviruses coexist in the same populations and assays
suitable for the rapid confirmation of infection in patients at the primary health care level are
needed.
We propose to develop sensitive and specific assays to identify Zika, chikungunya and
dengue simultaneously in a platform suitable for use at the primary health care level. Assays
will build on dengue and chikungunya assays developed at LSTM and public domain CDC
primers and probes for Zika. These assays will be adapted to the BioGene QuRapID
instrument, which is a platform initially designed for detection of bacteria and subsequently
successfully adapted to an RT-QPCR approach for detection of Ebola. The system is able to
process blood samples directly without DNA/RNA extraction and detects RNA targets without
extraction steps within 35 minutes.
On completion of the project we will have developed point-of-care molecular assays that are
rapid, sensitive and specific, and suitable for the diagnosis and clinical management of
populations at risk of arboviruses infections in Latin America.
the same vectors and have overlapping clinical presentation. The difficulties experienced in
confirming the role of Zika as a potential teratogenic pathogen and understanding the risk of
Guillain-Barre have demonstrated the deficiencies of current diagnostics for epidemiological
investigations and clinical management [1].
Until recently, dengue infections were identified by confirming the first few clinical cases in
reference laboratories; all subsequent cases were assumed to be due to the same virus. This
approach no longer works as several arboviruses coexist in the same populations and assays
suitable for the rapid confirmation of infection in patients at the primary health care level are
needed.
We propose to develop sensitive and specific assays to identify Zika, chikungunya and
dengue simultaneously in a platform suitable for use at the primary health care level. Assays
will build on dengue and chikungunya assays developed at LSTM and public domain CDC
primers and probes for Zika. These assays will be adapted to the BioGene QuRapID
instrument, which is a platform initially designed for detection of bacteria and subsequently
successfully adapted to an RT-QPCR approach for detection of Ebola. The system is able to
process blood samples directly without DNA/RNA extraction and detects RNA targets without
extraction steps within 35 minutes.
On completion of the project we will have developed point-of-care molecular assays that are
rapid, sensitive and specific, and suitable for the diagnosis and clinical management of
populations at risk of arboviruses infections in Latin America.
People |
ORCID iD |
Publications
Edwards T
(2016)
Co-infections with Chikungunya and Dengue Viruses, Guatemala, 2015.
in Emerging infectious diseases
| Description | Contribution towards assessment of rapid and safe diagnostic assays for Lassa Fever in |
| Amount | £49,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | ZK/16-025 |
| Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2018 |
| End | 03/2019 |
| Title | Test performance profiles for chikungunya |
| Description | We prepared dengue and chikungunya Test Performance Profiles (TPP) and share them with the Partnership for Dengue Control. Please notice there is no option to classify TPPs. |
| Type Of Material | Data analysis technique |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Discussion of the TPPs for chikungunya and Zika viruses. |
| URL | http://www.controldengue.org/ |
| Description | Industrial collaboration with BioGene |
| Organisation | BioGene |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Our team developed the probes and sequences to be used in the molecular assays for dengue viruses 1-4, chikungunya and Zika. |
| Collaborator Contribution | BioGene provided access to specialist software to optimize the assays and an open platform for the development of the assays for the BioGene platform QRapid. |
| Impact | Ongoing. It will result in the development of multiplexed and rapid molecular tests for the diagnosis of dengue (1-4), chikungunya and dengue that are suitable to use by laboratories without PCR facilities/ |
| Start Year | 2016 |