Inverness Medical has announced the launch of the Panbio Dengue Early Rapid immunochromatographic test for the detection of dengue infection.
Designed for use in conjunction with other dengue serology tests, the Dengue Early Rapid test can help to diagnose active dengue infection from the first day fever appears.
In facilitating early diagnosis, therapy and monitoring can begin much earlier, reducing the risk of severe complications such as dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS).
Detecting dengue NS1 antigen in serum, the Dengue Early Rapid test is able to provide a specific diagnosis of dengue infection in 15 minutes following a three-step procedure.
This may be valuable in areas where diagnosis could be confounded by serological cross reactivity.
There are four distinct dengue virus serotypes (DEN -1, -2, -3, -4) that are immunologically related and can all cause dengue fever.
Although related, the four serotypes do not provide cross-protective immunity against each other, resulting in patients in endemic regions often having more than one infection during their lifetime.
The risk of DHF rises substantially with second or subsequent infections, further emphasising the need for early diagnosis to enable early treatment and care.
Endemic in 124 countries, the dengue virus is carried and transmitted by mosquitoes.
Typically, dengue fever is a non-fatal febrile illness characterised by fever, muscle pain, headache and nausea, with vomiting lasting five to seven days.
The more severe manifestations of the disease - dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome - can be fatal if not identified in the early stages.
