45-minute dengue test kit to hit market in 3 years

21 Sep 2016

ChannelNewsAsia, 20 Sep 2016 - SP and Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) has jointly developed a new test kit which takes just 45 minutes to diagnose dengue with a 100 per cent accuracy rate. The kit will also be able to determine the dengue serotype among the four known strains of the virus. First announced in 2013 as a prototype, the kit has since undergone 24 months of laboratory testing. SP is currently in talks with a company to launch the test kit in the market within the next three years. SP’s Centre for Biomedical and Life Sciences Director, Dr Tan Eng Lee, shared how the dengue test kit is one of the first in the market to use nanotechnology and is both affordable and simple to use. SP and TTSH also signed a second Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate in researching new methods for the early detection of infectious diseases over the next three years. Both institutions also announced that a prototype test kit for both the dengue and Zika virus is in the works. Similar story was reported on Channel 8, Suria, Vasantham, 938Live, 95.8FM, Ria 89.7FM and Warna FM.