Duke-NUS and SGH Researchers uncovers way to track Dengue infections
Dengue fever is a common mosquito-borne viral disease today, where in a severe form, of hemorrhagic fever, can result in death. The disease develops four to seven days after the mosquito bite with patients suffering from fever, headaches, rashes, aches and bleeds.
As of now, testing for this disease is complex and time-consuming. Results from molecular tests like Polymerase Chain reaction, which detect Dengue DNA can be done only by verified testing labs and results take about four days to two weeks to reach doctors. However molecular testing cannot be used to monitor this illness. Instead, doctors have to resort to antibody testing to monitor current dengue fever infections and their trajectory
Antibodies are produced by the body in response to an infection. At the early stages of infection, antibody levels are low and spike up, as the body is fighting the infection. Once the infectious organism has been cleared, antibody levels begin to decrease. The levels of antibody in a person are strongly influenced by the severity of infection and the body’s immune response. Antibody testing is currently the only way to test for a recent or current infection of Dengue and cannot be used in real time to monitor patient health.
Commonly used to detect solid tumors, positron emission tomography (PET) paired with the glucose metabolism probe,fluorodeoxy glucose (FDG) is considered ‘old’ technology in the field of cancer.
Now, a team from Duke-NUS Medical School (Duke-NUS) and Singapore General Hospital (SGH) has discovered a new use for this ‘old’ technology in another field: infectious diseases research.
The team has potentially uncovered a novel and non-invasive way to track down the infection, using FDG-PET as an imaging tool for dengue infection in mouse models, and more accurately assess the effectiveness of new treatment for dengue.
