Leveraging arthropod-borne disease surveillance assays for clinical diagnostic use.
Researchers at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research have taken a joint service approach to filling an identified diagnostic capability gap by leveraging a vector surveillance assay. Specifically, the Army took a field-stable real-time polymerase chain reaction assay, developed by the Air Force, for dengue virus surveillance in arthropod vectors and collaborated with Navy researchers for utility in human diagnostics. As current Department of Defense diagnostic PCR assays employ the Joint Biological Agent Identification and Diagnostic System, the dengue assay was tested for use on this platform. The low rates of false negative and false positive dengue samples in clinical matrices demonstrate excellent utility as a human diagnostic assay. Overall, converting an arboviral vector surveillance assay to human diagnostic assay and potentially vice versa is both cost effective and labor reducing. Codevelopment with harmonization of vector surveillance and diagnostics offers monetary and resource advantages to the Department of Defense and should be considered as a path forward in times when downsizing threatens assay development and pathogen discovery.
Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, 503 Robert Grant Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
Vanessa R
VR
Melanson
Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, 503 Robert Grant Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
Jessica L
JL
Scheirer
Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, 503 Robert Grant Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
Marshall T
MT
Van de Wyngaerde
BioFire Diagnostics, Inc., 39 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City, UT 84108.
Kevin
K
Bourzac
Navy Medical Research Center, 503 Robert Grant Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
Shuenn-Jue
SJ
Wu
Navy Medical Research Center, 503 Robert Grant Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
Tadeusz
T
Kochel
Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences, 315/6 Rajvithi Road, Bangkok, Thailand.
James C
JC
McAvin
D000330:Aedes / Q000821:virology*; D000818:Animals; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003715:Dengue / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003716:Dengue Virus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000821:virology*; D008889:Military Personnel; D010568:Peru; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014481:United States
D012367:RNA, Viral