Evaluation of the DPP II Assay in Laos

Fever is the most frequent symptom in patients seeking care globally. Several causative agents of febrile illness have been described with a high prevalence in South East Asia. They include malaria, dengue, Rickettsia, Leptospira and Burkholderia species. Since their introduction in the market, rapid diagnostic tests for malaria have driven patient management and care. Malaria negative cases are commonly treated with antibiotics without confirmation of bacteraemia. This can be explained by conventional laboratory diagnostic tests such as blood culture that usually require a skilled staff and appropriate facilities.

Several Rapid Diagnostic tests (RDTs) are currently in the market but only limited data on their performance are available, rendering them unsuitable to replace laboratory conventional tests. In addition, RDTs have been developed for single disease diagnosis and remain costly for Low and Middle Income Countries (LMIC).

Chembio, in collaboration with FIND (Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics) and MORU (Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit), has developed a multiplex lateral flow immunoassay (DPP® Fever Panel II Assay) that is able to detect serum immunoglobulin M (IgM) and specific microbial antigen of the most common agents of Acute Febrile Illness (AFI) in Asia. The assay comes with a reader that provides results interpretation to the operator.

So far, DPP II assay performance has been estimated using a limited number of retrospective serum samples. More data are required to assess the performance of the assay using prospective serum samples. In addition, only limited data are available regarding the performance of the assay using blood samples. FIND will conduct a clinical trial to estimate the clinical performance of the assay in comparison to reference tests, using blood and serum samples and in intended settings of use.