Photo by Juan D. Alfonso
Two institutions in Houston, Texas, have developed the US’s first hospital-based, rapid diagnostic test for the Zika virus.
Pathologists and clinical laboratory scientists at Texas Children’s Hospital and Houston Methodist Hospital developed the test, which is customized to each hospital’s diagnostic laboratory and can provide results within several hours.
The test can be performed on blood, amniotic fluid, urine, or spinal fluid.
The test identifies virus-specific RNA sequences to detect Zika virus. It can distinguish Zika infection from dengue, West Nile, or chikungunya infections.
Right now, only registered patients at Texas Children’s or Houston Methodist Hospital can receive the test, but the labs will consider referral testing from other hospitals and clinics in the future.
Initially, the test will be offered to patients with a positive travel history and symptoms consistent with acute Zika virus infection (eg, rash, arthralgia, or fever) or asymptomatic pregnant women with a positive travel history to any of the Zika-affected countries.
The goal of hospital-based testing for Zika virus is to prevent the delays that may occur with testing conducted in local and state public health laboratories and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Hospital-based testing that is state-of-the-art enables our physicians and patients to get very rapid diagnostic answers,” said James M. Musser, MD, PhD, of Houston Methodist Hospital.
“If tests need to be repeated or if our treating doctors need to talk with our pathologists, we have the resources near patient care settings.”
The collaboration between Texas Children’s and Houston Methodist Hospital was sponsored by the L.E. and Virginia Simmons Collaborative in Virus Detection and Surveillance. This program was designed to facilitate rapid development of tests for virus detection in a large metropolitan area.
