Abstract
Dengue virus is one of the 10 major threats to global health according to World Health Organization (2019). This (sub)tropical disease is transmitted by mosquitos and has a huge economic and societal impact worldwide. Predictions suggest that 60% of the world population will be at risk of infection by 2080 as a result of urbanization, population growth and rising temperatures. Hence, the availability of an affordable diagnostic tool with excellent analytical performances is essential. Current diagnostics, however, are expensive or lack in sensitivity and specificity. This project aims to develop a technology for RNA virus detection that is fast and cost-effective and has an outstanding specificity and sensitivity. Moreover, it will allow point-of-care testing, enabling its usage as an early warning system for potential outbreaks. To achieve this goal, photo-electrochemistry, in which the signal is triggered by light, will be combined with plasmonic nanoparticles. In this way the limit of detection will decrease to sub-femtomolar ranges. Finally, the laboratory technology will be validated on clinical serum samples and its performances will be compared to the gold standard reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction. Although this project is focused on dengue diagnosis, its underlying technology can be extended to detect other pathogens and has therefore the potential to play a key role in pandemic preparedness.
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