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Bird flu rapid test kits the country's next big thing
Can human avian influenza rapid test kits help safe lives?
As doctors and medical workers struggle to determine whether their patients are infected with the H5N1 virus, developing rapid tests for bird flu diagnosis is becoming a pressing issue for the country.
Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari earlier said that aside from developing a human vaccine for the deadly flu strain, the country was working on developing the test kits.
The effort began in October but little progress has been reported.
The most common rapid influenza test works by using direct antigen detection and can yield results in 30 minutes.
Such kits have been tried in other countries, but as Indonesian Doctors Association head Fahmi Idris said "they are not effective". "Studies of the effectiveness of such kits show that cases declared negative from the tests can later on turn out to be positive after further laboratory tests.
"They only become a commodity that industries can sell to countries," Fahmi said. "Currently, the most effective and accurate test method is PCR (polymerase chain reaction)."
Using the PCR method, the results are known within a few days.
New Scientist magazine reported that the World Health organization had pointed out that a negative result on a rapid test did not rule out avian flu infection.
WHO itself stated in its recommendation paper on rapid tests that no study had been performed to assess the accuracy of rapid tests to detect human infection with avian influenza.
"Obviously, failure to detect even one infected person could have disastrous public health consequences. For surveillance of H5N1 in non-affected areas, rapid tests are never acceptable," the report said.
However, considering the number of bird flu patients in the country who have been hospitalized too late, rapid test kits could be a useful tool for medical workers.
Avian flu is extremely hard to detect with standard tests, but waiting for laboratory confirmation of an outbreak delays treatment, according to 2006 studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine as cited by the New York Times.
The studies examined family clusters of avian influenza in Indonesia and Turkey and pointed out that "if the H5N1 virus mutates into a pandemic strain, rapid tests will be really key."
That is, on the condition that medical workers and health officials do not neglect the necessary surveillance procedures.
-- JP/Anissa S. Febrina
Symptoms and facts on human avian influenza
1. Fever, cough and other respiratory symptoms.
2. Symptoms of an influenza-like illness and diarrhea may be present.
3. The incubation period is usually two to eight days but may be up to 17 days.
4. Severe complications include acute respiratory distress syndrome, multiple-organ failure and sepsis syndrome.
5. The case-fatality rate is high, at 55 percent to 78 percent.
Source: Word Health Organization, Health Ministry
Can human avian influenza rapid test kits help safe lives?
As doctors and medical workers struggle to determine whether their patients are infected with the H5N1 virus, developing rapid tests for bird flu diagnosis is becoming a pressing issue for the country.
Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari earlier said that aside from developing a human vaccine for the deadly flu strain, the country was working on developing the test kits.
The effort began in October but little progress has been reported.
The most common rapid influenza test works by using direct antigen detection and can yield results in 30 minutes.
Such kits have been tried in other countries, but as Indonesian Doctors Association head Fahmi Idris said "they are not effective". "Studies of the effectiveness of such kits show that cases declared negative from the tests can later on turn out to be positive after further laboratory tests.
"They only become a commodity that industries can sell to countries," Fahmi said. "Currently, the most effective and accurate test method is PCR (polymerase chain reaction)."
Using the PCR method, the results are known within a few days.
New Scientist magazine reported that the World Health organization had pointed out that a negative result on a rapid test did not rule out avian flu infection.
WHO itself stated in its recommendation paper on rapid tests that no study had been performed to assess the accuracy of rapid tests to detect human infection with avian influenza.
"Obviously, failure to detect even one infected person could have disastrous public health consequences. For surveillance of H5N1 in non-affected areas, rapid tests are never acceptable," the report said.
However, considering the number of bird flu patients in the country who have been hospitalized too late, rapid test kits could be a useful tool for medical workers.
Avian flu is extremely hard to detect with standard tests, but waiting for laboratory confirmation of an outbreak delays treatment, according to 2006 studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine as cited by the New York Times.
The studies examined family clusters of avian influenza in Indonesia and Turkey and pointed out that "if the H5N1 virus mutates into a pandemic strain, rapid tests will be really key."
That is, on the condition that medical workers and health officials do not neglect the necessary surveillance procedures.
-- JP/Anissa S. Febrina
Symptoms and facts on human avian influenza
1. Fever, cough and other respiratory symptoms.
2. Symptoms of an influenza-like illness and diarrhea may be present.
3. The incubation period is usually two to eight days but may be up to 17 days.
4. Severe complications include acute respiratory distress syndrome, multiple-organ failure and sepsis syndrome.
5. The case-fatality rate is high, at 55 percent to 78 percent.
Source: Word Health Organization, Health Ministry
