Rapid Vaccinia Antibody Detection

A new in vitro diagnostic test detects antibodies to the vaccinia virus, the vaccine against smallpox, in human blood to determine the effectiveness of an individual's vaccination.

Vaccination against smallpox has been shown to also provide immunity against other viruses from the orthopox virus family. The primary function of the new antibody detection test is to test for the presence of vaccinia antibodies in individuals who do not show a visible response to vaccination against smallpox. The target market is clinical settings where smallpox vaccinations are performed.

"At least 3-5% of individual smallpox vaccinations do not produce a visible response, possibly due to the presence of pre-existing protective vaccinia antibodies, or due to the ineffectiveness of the vaccination,” said Dr. Spencer Lee, professor of virology in the department of microbiology and immunology at Dalhousie University (Halifax, Canada) and co-inventor of the technology the test is based on. "MedMira's test will eliminate the potential danger of an ineffective vaccination and provide an individual with the peace of mind that his or her vaccination was successful.”

MedMira (Halifax, Canada) develops in vitro diagnostic tests for the detection of antibodies to certain diseases, such as HIV, in human serum, plasma, or whole blood. These are all based on the same flow-through technology, which offers multi-use capability and is adaptable to new applications.




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