Cheap and Quick CD4 Test
posted: 17/02/2009
A rapid and inexpensive test to check the immune system of people living with HIV/AIDS for the developing world is now a step closer. Imperial College in London has just been given a $7.3m grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
If successful, the test would improve healthcare workers' ability across the globe to determine the best treatment for people with HIV.
The CD4 Initiative at Imperial College was set up to develop an easy to use point-of-care test, costing around $2, that can rapidly measure the numbers of CD4 cells in a person's blood, without using electronics or mechanical parts.
Having enough CD4 cells is critical in anyone's immune system and HIV gradually reduces their number. When the number of CD4 cells fall too low, people become more and more vulnerable to HIV-related illness. Below a CD4 of 200, illnesses become highly probable. In the UK treatment typically starts at around the 350 level to prevent this illhealth.
CD4 counts are a vital measure
Healthcare workers rely on a CD4 count when making decisions about treatment for HIV and when this should begin. The new test would mean people and nurses would find out within minutes if they should start the HIV treatment.
Imperial's academic and industrial partners in the CD4 Initiative have worked since 2007 to devise the new test. USA and Australian teams have already developed three prototypes, one of which will be chosen to be manufactured and mass produced in 2010.
Finger-prick blood sample is enough
The new test will work with a finger-prick blood sample and will have a simple read-out. One of the new prototypes is similar to a home pregnancy test.
The majority of people with HIV in the developing world do not get CD4 tested often or at all, because it is expensive and requires a lab and specially trained staff. Where testing facilities do exist, it is often too difficult for people in rural areas to reach them. For those who are tested, it can take weeks to obtain results.
source
Permalink