POSTER Presented at ASM Clinical Virology Symposium 2019
Zika is spread mostly by the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito. These mosquitoes bite during the day and night. Zika can be passed from a pregnant woman to her fetus. Infection during pregnancy can cause certain birth defects. There is no vaccine or medicine for Zika.
Accurate and reliable Zika virus diagnostic tests are essential in limiting the spread of Zika virus infections.
Urine and other non-invasive biopecimens are ideally suited for Zika screening and surveillance; but existing test methods are often limited due to poor assay sensitivity.
Processing first-void urine with Nanotrap® particles significantly improves the detection of Zika virus by RT-PCR in those samples. These results have important implications for routine clinical diagnostics, as the combination of first-void urine and Nanotrap® particles can be used to enrich pathogens such as Zika virus.
Incorporating Nanotrap® particles in the urine collection device along with a preservative could streamline sample processing and further improve downstream assay performance.