A new test called ViroCap developed by researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis is said to have the ability to detect nearly all types of infectious viral diseases. How this innovative discovery can help revolutionize medicine and shape the future of disease management has now become the ultimate point of question.
For one, ViroCap is said to have almost similar or even better sensitivity levels as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which is currently the gold standard used in majority of clinical laboratories to detect viruses. In fact, the researchers who tested the effectivity of the procedure in a clinical trial found a 52 percent increase in the number of detected viruses among patients who underwent an initial standard testing and a subsequent ViroCap testing.
Standard tests detect low levels of viruses and are limited to pathogens which clinicians suspect the patients have as per clinical manifestations. However, with the sequencing and viral detection capabilities of ViroCap, which has been proven comparable to PCR assays, the researchers said that it could help determine wide range of diseases from self-limiting illnesses such as norovirus and rotavirus to life-threatening viral infections such as Ebola and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
Aside from this breakthrough, the test, which was developed in the McDonnell Genome Institute of the university, can also detect subtypes of viruses as it has the ability to decode specific genetic data about the different viral strains. In a study to test ViroCap, which was published in the journal Genome Research, the researchers were able to discover that while standard tests determined a virus as influenza A, ViroCap identified it as H3N2, which is a particularly severe subtype of the virus.
Such enhanced discoveries may help to instigate treatment plan changes and improve clinical outcomes among patients.
The emergent diagnostic modality was developed by focusing on specific groups of DNA or RNA from identified viral clusters that sicken humans and animals. In total, the experts included about two million groups of genetic components from the viruses. These materials were then used to pick out viruses from patient specimens that exhibit a genetic match. The matched component was then studied via genetic sequencing.
The researchers are looking at performing further studies to ensure the dependability of the test before it becomes available in the clinical setting.
"It also may be possible to modify the test so that it could be used to detect pathogens other than viruses," said co-author Kristine Wylie, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics. These organisms include fungi, bacteria and other microorganisms, including genes that would flag a drug-resistant pathogen.
At present, ViroCap is available to scientists for research purposes.
