Randox has a cytokine biochip array that can help determine the virulence of novel flu strains, providing a rapid determination of patients in need of immediate therapy.
According to the company, most flu infections are harmless, but sometimes a novel strain appears, which causes fatalities.
The current swine-flu outbreak has caused concern throughout the world, in part because it appears to be affecting a young, healthy population.
This makes it similar to the 1918 flu pandemic that killed between 20 million and 100 million people worldwide.
This strain, however, is new, which may explain its virulence - the host does not recognise what should, otherwise, be a relatively harmless infection.
According to Randox, the reason why novel forms of flu are so deadly is because they provoke a hyper-immune response, where the body secretes a 'cytokine storm' in the absence of a more specific infection reaction.
Ironically, it added, the better the body's defence system, the more aggressive it is in attacking itself, which is why young, healthy adults are bearing the brunt of the fatalities.
Both SARS and bird flu (H5N1) have shown evidence of cytokine storms and have proved fatal, although the human-human infection has been contained.
In contrast, the H1N1 swine-flu outbreak has been spread from human to human and, according to CNN, has spanned 21 countries, causing 26 deaths, 25 of which were in Mexico, and 1,117 confirmed cases (as of 12:00 on 5 May).
The cytokine storm typically secretes a mix of defence molecules, particularly IL-1, IL-6, TNF and IL-10.
All of these cytokines are present on the Randox Cytokine I biochip array, available in both a standard and a high-sensitivity format, and can be used on both evidence and investigator analysers.
The Randox platform is easy to use and offers excellent performance on reproducibility and sensitivity, according to the company.
Complete with controls and calibrators, this system is already being used in major hospitals around the world to assess the 'cytokine storm'.
There are conflicting reports as to whether this strain of Influenza-A has evoked a cytokine storm, but Randox can provide the tools to accurately and rapidly determine if this does occur, according to the company.
Using the latest technology, each cytokine assay is performed on an activated biochip with discrete test regions specific to each cytokine.
Advanced chemistries enable 12 cytokines to be detected simultaneously in a single, 100ul serum sample, providing information in the determination of a cytokine storm.
