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Rapid Diagnostic Test for Leprosy Announced
Posted on:
February 10, 2013
IDRI (Infectious Disease Research Institute), in conjunction with OrangeLife, a Brazilian diagnostic company, has announced the registration of a rapid diagnostic test for leprosy, offering new hope for early diagnosis and treatment. The test was registered through ANVISA, Brazil's regulatory authority.
Leprosy, an ailment most people associate with biblical times, is a chronic infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae. It was reported in 130 countries in the past year and is prevalent in countries throughout Africa, Asia and South America -- including Brazil. Symptoms include progressive and permanent damage to the skin, nerves, limbs and eyes that can take several years to appear, making the disease hard to diagnose at an early stage. Nearly 250,000 new cases of leprosy are diagnosed every year, and many more go undetected.
According to Malcolm Duthie, senior scientist at IDRI, the diagnostic test is simple and easy to use. "The test requires just a single drop of blood, mixed with a developing reagent," he explained. "From there, a line develops and it's somewhat like a pregnancy test: the appearance of two lines indicates the test is positive and the person has leprosy." He added that scientific publications regarding the rapid diagnostic indicate its ability to diagnose the presence of infection before clinical symptoms appear, in most cases.
OrangeLife coupled IDRI's leprosy diagnostic antigens with a rapid test format that standardize the ability to accurately interpret results and get a quantitative value.
While diagnostics can aid in early detection of leprosy, scientists at IDRI are also focused on developing a vaccine.
www.idri.org.
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