The diagnostics units work on the design and evaluation of a qRT-PCR assay for Chikungunya virus is to be published in an upcoming edition of the journal Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. The results were generated during a collaboration with Qiagen (Manchester, UK), which involved the rapid production and validation of prototype diagnostic kits for dengue and chikungunya viruses, as a case study in rapid assay generation for outbreak situations.
The assay was designed using contemporary sequence information, primarily from the ongoing outbreak in the America’s, which was anticipated to translate into an increased performance in this setting.
A small-scale evaluation involving 164 serum samples from Guatemala and Ecuador, was carried out to compare the performance of the new test with a reference assay designed by US Centres of Disease Control and Prevention. Overall there were only 2 discordant results between the test, indicating the new test had a sensitivity of 98.6% and a specificity of 98.8%.
The assay designed during this work has fed into our current MRC funded project working with Biogene (Cambridge, UK), to produce a assay for their QuRapID platform for the simultaneous detection of DENV1-4, Chikungunya and Zika, directly from blood.
Written by Dr Thomas Edwards - post-doctoral research in RCDD Director’s Catalyst fund awardee.
Edwards, T. Signor, L.D. Williams, C., Larcher, C., Espinel, M., Theaker, J. Donis, E., Cuevas, L.E., Adams, E.R. (2017). Analytical and Clinical Performance of a Chikungunya qRT-PCR for Central and South America. Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.
See also:
Edards, T. Signor, L.D. Williams, C., Donis, E., Cuevas, L.E., Adams, E.R. (2016) Co-infections with Chikungunya and Dengue Viruses, Guatemala, 2015. Emerging Infectious Diseases; 22 (11), 2003-2005