New blood test to detect Zika approved in Brazil

A new blood test for Zika that can detect the virus within a few hours, even in patients who have had other mosquito-borne diseases, has been approved for production and use by health services in Brazil.

Scientists analyse the larvae of Aedes aegypti, a vector of yellow fever, dengue, chikungunya, and Zika. Photo: Peter Ilicciev/Fiocruz

Brazilian scientists developed the kit following the 2015 Zika outbreak that caused a higher rate of microcephaly, a condition where a baby is born with an abnormally small head. Almost 3,800 cases of microcephaly were recorded among newborns in Brazil that year, compared to an average of fewer than 200 in previous years.

The new tool can detect the virus in infected patients in less than four hours, compared with between 15 and 30 days using current methods.

It works even in people who have suffered from dengue, yellow fever and chikungunya; since Aedes aegyptis is the main vector for all these diseases, it is common for laboratory tests not to be able to differentiate between them.

The body's immune responses to the Zika and dengue viruses are so similar that, until now, it has been difficult to tell a recent Zika infection from a historical dengue infection.

According to virologist Edison Luiz Durigon, professor at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences of the University of São Paulo and leader of the team that developed the kit, the test is “between 92 and 100 per cent accurate”.

“We developed reagents that don’t give any cross result with other diseases and keeps its high precision. The serological [bodily fluid] tests that already existed were developed by multinationals and had been tested in areas that were not endemic to dengue, giving cross results.”

The test works with a blood sample and uses a well-known lab technique called ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay).

Apart from microcephaly, babies that have been exposed to the Zika virus may develop brain lesions that are initially undetectable but could trigger cognitive impairment.

“That’s why we should make a continuous follow-up during pregnancy to detect if they have been exposed to the virus even if they don’t have symptoms,” argued Durigon. (SciDev.Net)

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