Researchers patent fast, accurate technology for early Zika detection

From FIU News
August 30, 2018

In the first half of 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported only 34 symptomatic Zika virus disease cases, down from more than 5,000 in 2016. But, as the CDC notes, that does not mean that the virus is no longer of concern: where you live, where you travel, and where your sex partner(s) travel can affect your chances of getting Zika. And the state of Florida is still vulnerable to outbreaks because many of its neighbors and visitors come from actively affected areas.

This summer, researchers in the Department of Immunology and Nano-Medicine at the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine patented a new way of detecting the Zika virus in patients significantly faster and earlier than methods currently being used.

With nano-enabled biosensors, “The electrochemical system we have developed can detect the virus in 40 minutes or less, using a smaller sample and at a lower level of disease,” says Madhavan Nair, professor and chair of the Department of Immunology and Nano-Medicine.

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