An Easy-to-use Diagnostic System for Rapid Dengue Virus Detection Using Fluorescence-Based Molecular Probes

1. It is a rapid method of detection of dengue virus in patient’s serum. It gives results within two hours.
2. It is a nucleic acid-based test and therefore highly specific; thus precise results can be obtained.
3. It does not involve any time-consuming nucleic acid amplification step.
4. It is an easy-to-use method and does not need much expertise to perform the experiments.
5. This method can be adapted to detect other pathogens by simply changing the probe sequence specific for the other pathogens. Therefore, this method can be used for serotyping of dengue and detection of other pathogens like chikungunya, Zika etc.

The invention relates to a diagnostic system for rapid dengue virus detection using fluorescence-based molecular probes. Here we propose a detection system which is fluorescence-based and detects DENV RNA in patient’s serum directly without any nucleic acid amplification step. Streptavidin-coated magnetic beads with biotinylated molecular probes immobilized on them are used to separate out and detect the viral RNA from the serum. The whole work is carried out in a single tube. This is a rapid method and can precisely detect dengue RNA within two hours confirming ongoing DENV replication (i.e. active infection) in the patient.

The invention an be adapted to detect other pathogens by simply changing the probe sequence specific for the other pathogens. Therefore, this method can be used for serotyping of dengue and detection of other pathogens like chikungunya, Zika etc.