Development of a novel rapid point-of-care PCR test for schistosomiasis

Abstract text

Introduction:

The WHO has targeted schistosomiasis for elimination as a public health concern in this decade. This requires, amongst other things, an improvement in diagnostics, as current approaches are not sufficiently sensitive and specific to achieve these goals, especially in low endemic areas.

Objectives:

We are developing a rapid test on a new platform, produced by a local startup. The aim will be to have a sensitive, specific and fast (10-20 minutes to result) PCR assay for field deployment to assist with elimination of the disease. In addition, we will compare different DNA extraction methods in order to have a user-friendly sample-to-answer process.

Materials and methods:

For this project we are working with a new technique, Pulse Controlled Amplification (PCA). The new platform is quite similar to a typical qPCR but with a new approach to nucleic acid amplification. It is based on a magnetic bead technology, which allows for a greater number of cycles in a shorter amount of time. For the detection we are using a novel primer-probe assay for Schistosoma haematobium and mansoni.

Results:

We have developed a PCR assay with high sensitivity and specificity on a platform that offers rapid, point-of-care testing capacity. We were able to perform the first successful runs with human serum samples. In the next steps, we will further expand on these results and compare them to existing methods such as antigen tests and egg counts.

Conclusion:

A novel, rapid point-of-care test for schistosomiasis such as this provides a siginifcant step towards overcoming current diagnostics limitations and towards achieving the WHO goal of eliminating the disease as a public health concern. Much work remains in order to optimize and validate this test, but it is promising as a completely new approach to tackling the issues at hand.