一種快速新型檢測方法被設(shè)計用于在不到1個小時內(nèi)診斷患西尼羅河熱患者或者西尼羅河腦膜腦炎患者。該檢測方法得到了加拿大衛(wèi)生部門的批準(zhǔn)。

西尼羅河病毒感染是一種蚊傳播疾病，據(jù)信在過去數(shù)年的流行中感染了北美洲數(shù)以萬計的患者。醫(yī)生很難根據(jù)癥狀進行診斷，現(xiàn)在使用的檢測方法需要數(shù)周才能提供檢測結(jié)果。每150例感染病毒的患者大約有1例會發(fā)生嚴(yán)重的感染，例如腦膜腦炎或者腦膜炎，將會導(dǎo)致癱瘓或者死亡。在2005年，據(jù)估計這種病毒已經(jīng)在北美洲導(dǎo)致將近100例患者死亡，得到確證的病例數(shù)以千計。

這種IgM STATus快速檢測方法是由Spectral診斷學(xué)公司(Toronto, Canada)及其聯(lián)合研究與開發(fā)伙伴IDx公司(Burlington, VT, USA)研制開發(fā)的。Spectral已經(jīng)開發(fā)了數(shù)種快速檢測方法，包括心臟病發(fā)作和敗血癥指標(biāo)的檢測方法。

Rapid Test for West Nile Virus
 
A rapid new test is designed to diagnose individual patients with West Nile fever or West Nile meningoencephalitis in less than an hour. The test has been approved by Health Canada.

West Nile virus infection is a mosquito-borne illness believed to have infected tens of thousands of people in North America since its emergence over the last several years. Symptoms are difficult for doctors to diagnose, and current testing practices may take as long as two weeks to provide clinical results. About 1 in every 150 patients infected with the virus will develop a serious infection such as encephalitis or meningitis, which can result in paralysis or death. In 2005, it is estimated that the virus has killed nearly 100 people in North America to date, with several thousand cases confirmed.

The IgM STATus rapid test was developed by Spectral Diagnostics, Inc. (Toronto, Canada) and its joint-venture research and development partner, IDx, Inc. (Burlington, VT, USA). Spectral has developed several rapid-format tests, including a test measuring markers of heart attack and a test for sepsis.