According to the newly published research in Molecular and Cellular Proteomics describes a biomarker panel based on patient IgM antibodies that can certainly distinguish between Zika and Dengue virus infection for a prolonged period post initial exposure.
CDI‘s expertise in protein microarrays was indispensable in the development of this assay. Zika virus and dengue virus are closely related Flaviviruses that cause widespread, acute febrile illnesses. It is vital to differentiate between ZIKV and DENV owing to the fact that ZIKV is known to be the cause of microphaly and severe brain abnormalities in utero and has been linked to other birth defects while DENV has not.
The current approved RT-PCR tests can only detect ZIKV infection specifically within seven days from the onset of any symptom. As the infection progresses, clinicians or diagnosticians must rely on IgM-based ELISA assays which cannot reliably distinguish ZIKV infection from DENV infection.
The participants in this study included labs from Johns Hopkins (Drs. Heng Zhu and Jiang Qian), UPenn, Florida State, along with a great deal of work from the labs of Drs. Jorge L. Muñoz-Jordan and Freddy A. Medina at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dengue Branch
Scott Paschke, CDI Vice President said “Working on this important problem alongside these top scientists was indeed a pleasure and we hope it leads to large scale adoption of utilizing this panel for accurate diagnosis of Zika, as well as development of additional tests and treatments.”