Enterovirus Test Introduced by ViraCor
A new test that rapidly identifies the presence of enterovirus (pdf) was recently launched by ViraCor Laboratories. Enteroviruses are estimated as the cause of between 10-15 million infections every year in the U.S. alone. The only viruses with a higher incidence of infection is rhinovirus, cause of the common cold.
The ViraCor molecular test accurately detects the presence of more than 70 different strains of enterovirus through use of quantitative PCR. Test results are available in as few as eight hours, but may require 24 hours for completion of analysis.
Additional information provided by the test includes the severity of infection, by assessing viral load. That information can be used to monitor how a patient is responding to treatment.
Enterovirus symptoms range from mild to life-threatening. More serious viral manifestations include encephalitis, aseptic (viral) meningitis, and myocarditis. Infection is contracted through contact with bodily secretions of an infected person. Objects can also become contaminated with the virus.
This test is particularly useful to monitor patients who have compromised immune systems. Those individuals are more likely to contract enterovirus. One of ViraCor’s existing partnerships is with the majority of facilities across the country that complete pediatric transplants. The availability of this test for that setting, in particular, to guide the decision-making process for clinicians when patients present with an infection of undetermined origin.
June 3, 2008 Related topics: Infectious Diseases, Product Launches, Diagnostic, Surgery, Hematology & Oncology