The development of the test to detect dengue fever or if you have already had the virus is progressing

They are developing a test to detect dengue, but also to find out if a person has already had the disease or not, key information to prevent the most serious cases. The work is carried out by the brand new Federal Network for the Rapid Diagnosis of Infectious Diseases in Argentina (ReFeDeAr), led by Daiana Capdevila, Andrea Gamarnik and Marcelo Yanovsky, CONICET researchers at the Leloir Institute Foundation. In addition, it implements a surveillance system for mosquito-borne diseases in Misiones and, with scientists from Santiago del Estero, develops rapid diagnostic tools for parasitic pathologies. Dengue has a particularity that makes it special: unlike the pathogens behind COVID-19 and the flu, if a person was exposed to one of the four types in which it can occur (DEN1, DEN2, DEN3 and DEN4) and then contracts a second infection with another of the variants, their chances of developing a severe form of the disease increase. Therefore, knowing the status of a population in relation to dengue infection (past or current) is important to prevent hospitalizations and deaths. The network seeks to develop rapid diagnostic tools for parasitic and vector-borne pathologies such as mosquitoes or ticks, and to establish a surveillance system in Posadas and Iguazu National Park, Misiones. The idea is to analyze samples from people, mosquitoes and wild animals to see if there are other viruses circulating, which will allow us to have early information about possible new health threats.” After the experience with the development of COVIDAR serological tests for the determination of antibodies against the virus that caused the pandemic, we set out to move forward with methods to be able to establish how many people have already had dengue and to know the situation of the Argentine population regarding the disease that last year broke all records in terms of cases and deaths,” Andrea Gamarnik, head of the Molecular Virology Laboratory of the Leloir Institute Foundation (FIL) and one of the coordinators of ReFeDeAr, explained to the CyTA-Leloir Agency, adding: “We are moving towards obtaining a kit that detects antibodies in blood to know whether or not a person had dengue. And at the same time, we are generating the tools of a rapid test, both to determine antibodies and to detect whether or not there is a current infection.” Gamarnik explained that this project is the starting point for a more ambitious challenge: “There are other viruses that are much less known and that also cause deaths, but since there is not a large market, tests were not developed to diagnose them. They are dengue-like viruses, which are biologically related because they belong to the same group. So, once we get tested for dengue, then we can use the same platform to determine Zika, yellow fever and other viruses that cause different encephalitis.” Dengue is currently the most important insect-borne virus globally and is on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) list of the 20 neglected tropical diseases. These 20 pathologies are caused by viruses, parasites or bacteria and affect more than a billion people worldwide. They are often associated with poverty. And while most are preventable and treatable, they are often ignored by funding agencies.

Original source in Spanish