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A real-time test for four common respiratory viruses has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The ProFlu+ test provides results within as few as three hours.

Other respiratory virus tests are fast but not as accurate or are accurate but not as fast, the FDA said.

The ProFlu+ test can analyze a single sample for influenza A virus, influenza B virus, and respiratory syncytial virus A and B (RSV). These viruses can cause influenza, pneumonia and an infection of the airways called bronchiolitis. All the viruses are leading causes …

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MURRAY — The central laboratory at Intermountain Medical Center is the first lab in the Intermountain West to implement a new test that simultaneously detects and identifies 12 influenza-specific viruses and viral subtypes that are responsible for more than 85 percent of respiratory viral infections, including influenza, adenovirus and rhinovirus.

The xTAG respiratory viral panel is the first test for the detection and differentiation of influenza A subtypes H1 and H3. Influenza A is the most severe form of influenza for humans, and has been the cause of major epidemics. The new panel was just approved for clinical use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration two week ago. It is also the first test for human metapneumovirus (hMPV), identified in 2001.

With the test, laboratory experts can detect and identify 12 influenza viruses from one sample. Since the panel utilizes small amounts of genetic material and then replicates it many times, the entire testing process and diagnostic time for patients is significantly sped up.

“This is very important since the usual process of detecting and identifying respiratory viruses can take up to a week. With this test, we can get results significantly quicker than that,” said Dr. David J. Pombo, a infectious disease specialist at Intermountain Medical Center.

Antibiotics are not effective against viruses and knowing for certain that an illness is virus-based should prevent incorrect use of antibiotics, which can create antibiotic-resistant bacteria or “superbugs.”

The xTAG respiratory viral panel is manufactured by Toronto- based Luminex Molecular Diagnostics.

Copyright C 2008 Deseret News Publishing Co.
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CHICAGO (AFP) — US researchers have devised a way to genetically disarm the deadly Ebola virus in a development that could speed research into a vaccine against the bug or drugs to treat people who have been infected with it, a study released Monday said.

The investigators discovered that by removing a single gene from the virus, they can prevent it from replicating or multiplying, effectively neutralizing the virus and making it much safer to study.

The virus has eight genes. One of those, VP30, makes a protein that enables it to replicate in host cells. Without VP30, the virus cannot grow.

“The altered virus does not grow in any normal cells,” said Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a professor of pathobiological sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine.

The Ebola virus first emerged in 1976, with outbreaks in Zaire and Sudan. Subsequent, sporadic outbreaks have occurred in Congo, …

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M2 PRESSWIRE-21 January 2008-US Food and Drug Administration: FDA Clears for Marketing Real-Time Test for Respiratory Viruses Molecular biology device detects four viruses, including influenza; results available in about 3 hours(C)1994-2008 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

RDATE:18012008

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared for marketing a test that simultaneously detects four common respiratory viruses, including the flu, in a patient’s respiratory secretions. The ProFlu+ test provides results in as few as three hours. Other diagnostic tests for respiratory viruses are fast …

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