Rapid Assay for West Nile Virus

A study has demonstrated that a novel rapid assay has a high degree of sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing West Nile virus (WNV) exposure in patients at risk.

Many patients with WNV infection have nonspecific symptoms of fever, headache, malaise, or other flu-like symptoms. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, Atlanta, GA, USA), about one in 150 patients infected with WNV will develop a serious infection such as encephalitis or meningitis, which can result in paralysis or death.

The new test was developed by Spectral Diagnostics, Inc. (Toronto, Canada). To date, it is the only rapid point-of-care test available for WNV that is intended for individual patient-by-patient application at the time of a patient's visit to a doctor. Spectral Diagnostics has also developed a rapid test for sepsis and a test for measuring markers of myocardial infarction.

"This successful study marks the conclusion of the development phase of Spectral's novel rapid assay for detecting human infection with the West Nile Virus,” said Dr. Paul Walker, M.D., Ph.D., CEO of Spectral. "We remain on schedule with our regulatory strategy to submit this test for consideration to Canadian and U.S. regulators to allow physicians to access this test in time for the 2005 WNV summer season.”




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