The Hindu Business Line : Single system to diagnose dengue

Now there is a diagnostic kit that not only detects chikungunya or dengue at an earlier stage of illness than most other kits, but also identifies if it's chikungunya or any one the four stereotypes of dengue — all in a single test.

The Dengue Genotyping kit, developed by the Korean bio-company Seegene, uses a multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) system based on their trademark Dual Specific Oligonucleotide technology to detect multiple pathogens at one time.

Diagnostic Kit

Dr Jong-Yoon Chun, CEO, Seegene, who is here to promote the kit, has showcased it to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, AIIMS, and Dr Lal PathLabs and will be talking to other organisations. "I am not interested in profit where this product is concerned. I am interested in the application of our development for a healthier society and I am looking for the recognition of this system's usefulness and uniqueness," he says. Dr Chun is willing to price the diagnostic kit according to the purchasing power of his client.

According to Dr Chun, while conventional testing methods only recognise the virus when the body starts producing antibodies, single PCR systems that allow early detection look for one virus at a time and thus works out to be very expensive. The Seegene system catches dengue, before the crucial haemorrhage and shock syndrome sets in. Since it is not dependent on antibodies, which last long after the virus has been eliminated, it also eliminates the risk of a misdiagnosis in someone who may have recovered from say chikungunya and then been infected with the dengue virus.

Diagnostic System

Seegene has the capacity to deliver diagnostic systems for a million tests within two weeks, claims the company. Developed in collaboration with Dr Sazaly Abu Baker, Professor at University Malaya Medical Centre, Malaysia, the diagnostic system was evaluated on 300 suspected patients. "We can't do clinical tests in Korea. We are looking at doing clinical research in India in the future," says Dr Chun.

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