More than half the worlds population is exposed to the risk of dengue virus infection and thousands die each year from this disease. Simple, reliable and comprehensive diagnostic tests play a vital role in appropriate, cost effective, patient care, in disease surveillance and in health planning. Before Australia developed the capacity for comprehensive diagnosis of Ross River virus infections, only 50 cases of epidemic polyarthritis were reported each year. The appearance of the PanBio Ross River virus diagnostic kit, developed with assistance from QUT, contributed to the recognition that this disease is a significant cause of morbidity in Australia and has led QUT to develop a vaccine to prevent Ross River virus infection. Prepared in collaboration with Baxter-Immuno in Vienna, this vaccine will begin clinical trials in 2000.
Work is in progress to develop the next generation of arbovirus diagnostic tests.
These include a one stop test to detect all four dengue viruses, Japanese encephalitis virus and yellow fever virus. A prototype assay able to do this is currently under evaluation. Fifty years ago, insecticides were seen as the solution to the problem of mosquito-borne virus diseases. For ecological and logistical reasons, they have not lived up to expectations. Simple robust tests, such as those developed by QUT and their partners are playing a vital role in ecologically sound, sometimes community based, programs to reduce the disease burden due to arbovirus infection.