DEN-STEP hemorrhagic fever diagnostic kit won the silver medal at the 45th International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva, held from March 29 – April 2, 2017 in Switzerland. The project was led by the BIOTEC researcher, Dr. Chunya Puttikhunt in collaboration with the researchers from the Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, and the Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University.
DEN-STEP, or Dengue-Serotype NS1 ELISA Platform, is the method to diagnose dengue hemorrhagic fever. Previously, the methods used to diagnose the fever is to culture the virus and to look at the RNA of the virus by RT-PCR. The significant difference between using DEN-STEP and the traditional ones is that it can tell the serotype of the virus, either it is dengue serotype 1 – 4. The method works by using monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) on early diagnosis patients (patients with only fever). These Mabs specifically targets NS1 protein of each type of dengue virus and will be used as the components to develop the “serotyping-NS1 ELISA” assay. These antibodies can be produced in the lab so it reduces the cost of importing components. This method will reveal the serotype of dengue virus within 3 hours, much faster than the traditional methods that they will give the result between 5 – 7 days. The kit allows doctors to cure the disease easier and more effective as they will know the type of virus from the start of the infection.
The International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva is one of the world’s largest market-place for inventions which was organized under the patronage of the Swiss Federal Government, the City of Geneva, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The exhibitors are from over 40 countries worldwide, with more than 700 inventions presented this year. For Thailand, the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) selected inventions from not only government but also from private organizations to participate the exhibition every year.